


Bright Lights, Big City

by thatmitchsentho



Category: Pitch Perfect
Genre: F/F, sequel to the common ground
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2018-08-10 08:54:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 108,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7838482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmitchsentho/pseuds/thatmitchsentho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beca Mitchell is graduating college and moving not to LA but to New York, ready to begin the next chapter of her life with her girlfriend Aubrey Posen. The city is big, the lights are bright, but as long as Aubrey is there to hold her hand, she's got this. Maybe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Beca Mitchell drummed her fingers on her knee impatiently. She wasn't one for pomp and circumstance and the ceremony was going on forever. It wouldn't be a problem, except the goddamn graduation cap was fucking itchy. She ignored the desire to stick her hands in her hair and ruin the curls Stacie had helped shape her hair into.

Finally the droning on had finished and they were ready to announce the graduates. More to the point, she was finally graduating college. She was all done, a dual degree holder in marketing and music production, a day that had seemed forever in the making.

College had been surprisingly good to Beca. She had her degrees, obviously. She had the Barden Bellas, an acapella group she had joined freshman year and won four national titles with, as well as forming close friendships with the girls. She had mended her relationship with her dad and stepmother. And then college had also gifted her with her girlfriend of three and a half years, Aubrey Posen. Aubrey had been a Bella when she attended Barden, and was captain of the group Beca's first year, when she was a senior. But there had been more to their bond, and around Christmas they had started dating.

It had been hard when Aubrey had gone off to Columbia Law, but they'd managed to make it. They'd had their share of fights, makeups, and nights crying over Skype when they wanted nothing more to be with each other. But it was all done, Aubrey was starting a new job in a few weeks time , and Beca was leaving for New York with her the next day.

Beca's reputation as an arranger, composer and producer of vocal tracks, on top of her programming at the college radio station and two years of DJ shifts at local clubs had drawn the attention of Epic Records. They'd offered a spot in their graduate program, and Beca was not hesitant in the least in accepting it. Aubrey was headed straight for a position at the United Nations, a surprise offer for sure. She had only applied for it on a whim not expecting to get it, but the recruiter had been impressed with her resume and recommendations. She'd shown a lot of interest in international law and human rights law, and it caught the attention of one of her professors. He had suggested it to her, and over a weekend spent with Beca going over the details, she had decided that she wanted to apply. Above all though, the two of them were most excited about finally being together, waking up together, and settling into a life together.

Beca heard her name and walked across the stage, accepting her fake diploma holder and shaking the dean's hand. She could hear cheers from her friends and family and smiled a little. Once the ceremony was over her eyes scanned the crowd for the face she wanted to see most. She was hit by her girlfriend from behind, two arms wrapping around her and a pair of lips pressing against her neck.

"Congratulations," she murmured. Beca turned in her arms and instigated another kiss, sinking against Aubrey's body and winding her arms around her neck.

"Let's keep it family friendly," a voice came. It was Chloe, their mutual best friend and the reason they found enough in common to begin dating. Aubrey relinquished her girlfriend long enough to let the redhead hug her.

"Thanks for coming, Chlo," she said.

"Are you kidding? Miss the Bellas reunion?" she said. She was referring to the planned party for the evening, a Bellas party. Since Aubrey and Chloe had been captains, they were naturally invited. Now that Beca had graduated, the group was being left to a pair of juniors who seemed to grasp what Beca was doing with arrangements.

After that, it was just one more day in Barden before Beca left for New York. New York was a surprise in itself. She'd had her heart set on LA to begin with, but the offer from Epic was too big to ignore, especially when the love of her life was there already.

The Bellas began to congregate around the three of them, hugs and chatter abounding. Before long, Beca slipped behind Aubrey, hands on her waist. Her fingers curled against her body slightly, and she leaned on tiptoe to kiss the spot just below her ear, the one that never failed to get her attention. It had the desired affect. The blonde turned around.

"We don't have time for that," she warned. She was right, because soon her dad and stepmom were beside them, closely followed by Beca's Aunt Marina. They all exchanged hugs with the new graduate before it was time for them all to leave for lunch.

Beca's dad had booked lunch for them in town, inviting Marina and Aubrey as well. They toasted to Beca, who, embarrassingly, was carded by the waiter before he'd pour her champagne.

The meal was excellent and the company was better. But time wore on and there were other things that needed doing. Beca's dad had final papers to grade, Marina hadn't even checked into her hotel yet, and Aubrey was itching to get back to hers. She had spent the entire meal with her hand moving increasingly further up Beca's thigh. Beca was clutching her dessert spoon white knuckle tight by the end of the meal. Mercifully, they called it a day and Beca's father went to settle the bill. They said goodbye to one another and Aubrey turned to Beca, pulling her in close.

"Let's get out of here," she said softly, eyes dark with lust. "We've got a little time before we have to get ready to meet the girls later." Beca nodded and the two hastily made their way to Aubrey's hotel room. They spilled through the door in a frenzy, Beca's shirt the first to hit the floor. It had been four weeks and two days since they were last alone together, and there were certain carnal urges that needed attention, serious and devoted attention.

A few rounds later, and they were finally moving from the bed to the shower. Aubrey was getting ready for their night out, and then they would drive back to Beca's so she could change. Beca had been sharing an apartment with Cynthia Rose for the past two years, and it had been a pretty good arrangement. They had a lot in common. Cynthia Rose wasn't sure what she was doing yet though, she'd gotten her degree in public relations and business management. They'd made a wine-fueled pact that if Beca ever needed representation, she'd be calling Cynthia Rose. At first Cynthia Rose had been sharing her room with Denise, but the two suffered a second pretty bad breakup and Denise had gone back to Kentucky where she was from. That had been a bad time for her roommate, and Beca's determination to pull her through had been yet another thing that had cemented the friendship. Now they were as close as sisters.

Beca lounged back on the bed, watching Aubrey get ready. All this time later and Beca couldn't believe how lucky she was to have a girlfriend like her. She was standing in front of the mirror wearing nothing but her underwear, and the sight alone was enough to make Beca want to throw her back on to the bed. It wasn't just that she was gorgeous, though. She was smart and driven, and thoughtful and she was patient. They were a great couple, if you asked anybody who knew them, unexpected but great.

"What are you staring at?" Aubrey asked into the mirror. Beca snapped out of her daze.

"Just my beautiful girlfriend," she shrugged. Aubrey now had a dress on, but she still climbed onto the bed, straddled her lap and pulled Beca into a steamy kiss.

"I love you, even if you are a massive cheeseball," she murmured against her lips.

"You love the cheesy," Beca said with a smirk.

"Yeah I do," Aubrey replied. Beca met her in another kiss, before pushing her away.

"Finish getting ready or we're not going to make it." Aubrey dutifully got up and found her shoes, touched up her makeup and they were ready to go to Beca's.

Beca took decidedly less time to get ready than her girlfriend. After her shower she quickly did her makeup and hair, pulled on the tightest jeans she owned - mainly for Aubrey's benefit - and a vest top. Aubrey wouldn't let her leave the room, instead grabbing her ass roughly and pulling their bodies together. Just as she was about to promise to do dirty things to her, Cynthia Rose popped her head through the door.

"Taxi is on - shit, my bad," she said, retreating hastily.

"It's okay CR," Beca said. "We're ready." She thought she heard a low growl from Aubrey's throat but the two women joined Cynthia Rose in waiting for the taxi.

Dinner with the Bellas was always an interesting affair. So many different personalities spread around a single table made for an entertaining evening. Beca was aware just how much she'd miss them all, Amy's hilarious stories, Lily's random and morbid observations, even Stacie's constant sexual innuendo.

After dinner came the club. Beca had been DJing weekends at every club that would have her. Her favorite was Oxide, and they'd promised her the VIP room for the night. The DJ that night was a weedy kid with good intuition and solid skills, so the club was jumping when they arrived. Beca immediately picked up a drink each for herself and Aubrey, and then let herself be led out to the dance floor.

Aubrey always loved to dance. Her and Chloe both. Beca liked it just fine, but her favorite part was getting to be up close and hands on with her girlfriend. It was a great way to spend the night, listening to great music, drinking and being with her friends, and running her hands all over Aubrey as they got lost in the bass. At one point she spotted Cynthia Rose chatting to a girl by the bar, which made her grin, and again a little later she grinned again when she saw the girl tug her out onto the dance floor. Aubrey followed her eyes.

"Who's that with CR?" She was a tall brunette with an explosion of curly dark hair.

"I have no idea," Beca said. The two girls were grinding close to each other's bodies. "Whatever. She deserves to have a good time."

"It's nice to see," Aubrey said.

"I know, she was so cut up when Denise broke up with her the second time. But she looks happy. And that makes me happy." Aubrey brought her eyes back to Beca, a smile gracing her features.

"You're beautiful," she said. "And I'm so glad we lasted." Beca stood on her toes and kissed her.

"Me too. I love you, Posen. Another drink?" Aubrey accepted and they went to the bar before joining some of the Bellas at a group of couches just off the dance floor. They sat and chatted with the girls for a while before they decided to head back to the hotel. Given that Beca was leaving town for good the next day, it took quite a while to say goodbye to all the girls, but eventually she managed to farewell all of them except for Cynthia Rose.

"Can we get out of here now?" the blonde asked. Beca nodded.

"Let me just go tell CR we're leaving." Beca made her way over to the other girl, tapping her on the shoulder and telling her they were going, also cheekily telling her to behave and winking before disappearing out of the club.

The next morning they dozed a little while before deciding to make a move. Aubrey showered and packed her things, then they checked out of the room and headed back to Beca's place. She'd planned ahead and was taking everything she could fit in the car with them to New York, and what didn't fit would be picked up by a delivery company and brought to the apartment next week. Given that Cynthia Rose was planning on hanging around Barden for a while, Beca was leaving the furniture behind so she could get another roommate, besides, the apartment in New York was already fully furnished.

"I'm packed and ready, once I have a shower we'll be good to pack up the car," Beca said, unlocking the door. She entered the kitchen and found the brunette Cynthia Rose had been dancing with last night staring groggily at the coffee maker. "Hello?"

"Oh," the woman said. She was only wearing a t-shirt and underwear. There was a large watercolor tattoo running down one tanned thigh. "Hi. Please tell me you're Cynthia Rose's roommate and you know how to work this thing. My need for caffeine is bordering on unholy right now." She didn't attempt to pull the shirt down.

"Yeah, I'm Beca," she replied. "This is my girlfriend Aubrey."

"I'm Natalie Walker," she said shaking both their hands. "Cynthia Rose is still in bed." Beca just raised an eyebrow and set the coffee maker going.

"You're giving me the look," the stranger said knowingly. "I get it."

"Do you?" Aubrey asked. She nodded.

"Ok. Let me just say for the record that what happened last night, I don't do that often. But I've seen your friend around a few times, mainly with you on nights you spin at Oxide," she said to Beca. "She caught my eye weeks ago and I'm glad I finally got up the nerve to talk to her. I think she's hot, she's sweet, we talked for hours and last night was a lot of fun. Hopefully she wants to go out again, a lot, because I would really like that. I'm not into hookups. That phase in my life is well and truly over. I'm not a bed hopping skank, I swear."

"Okay," Beca said. "But if you fuck her over I'm coming back from New York to kick your ass."

"Noted," she said. "So you're the DJ."

"Not any more," Beca said. She grabbed three mugs. "I'm off to Epic Records grad program."

"Really? That sounds cool," she said.

"What do you do?" Aubrey asked.

"I teach high school art," she said. "Which is why I'm awake. Body clock is set to go off at six am every day." The coffee finished and Natalie poured three mugs.

They shared the coffee together. Natalie seemed nice, she was mature and stable and comfortable being out, which had been Denise's biggest problem. She talked about Cynthia Rose enough that Beca and Aubrey figured that amongst whatever else had gone on the previous night, there had been some talking as well. Beca hoped she and Cynthia Rose found something together. They heard noise from Cynthia Rose's room.

"How does she take her coffee?" Natalie asked, getting up.

"Black with three sugars," Beca said, and she went back into the kitchen. Then Cynthia Rose appeared looking a little rumpled. She rubbed her face and noticed Natalie wasn't there, looking around warily.

"She's making you coffee," Aubrey said. The grin on the other girls face was unmistakable.

"She seems pretty nice," Beca said casually.

"Yeah," Cynthia Rose said. "She's cool. We'll see how it goes." She ducked into the kitchen.

"Let's give them some space," Beca said, and they went into her room. The bed was stripped bare and everything Beca owned was packed into suitcases and boxes to take to New York. Beca found some clothes and went to quickly take a shower. Aubrey pressed play on Beca's iPod, which she had plugged in to speakers, and lounged on the bare bed. Beca returned with wet hair and a robe around her body, and as she let it fall to the ground Aubrey sat up and eyed her appreciatively.

"What?" Beca said as she tugged some underwear on.

"Naked you," Aubrey replied simply. "Have I mentioned that I'm really looking forward to living with you? Having you in the bed with me every single day. No more Skype, no more FaceTime... You're going to be right there with me and not on a screen." Beca strode over and stood between her legs, leaning down to kiss her messily. Aubrey's hands found hot flesh, slightly pink from the shower and she pulled the brunette down. They got lost in a heated make out session for a while, before Beca's phone rang.

"It's my dad," she said. Aubrey pouted, but let her get up. Then Beca got dressed and they were about ready. Cynthia Rose and Natalie were eating breakfast now, laughing at something. Beca smiled as she began bringing stuff out.

"Damn B, you leaving already?" CR said.

"Yeah," she said. "I still have to see Marina and Dad and Sheila before we actually hit the road." The four of them loaded Beca's stuff into her car. Then Beca turned to CR.

"Take care of yourself CR. And thanks for everything. You've been really great to me," she said, hugging her.

"And both of you be careful," CR said. "And don't be a stranger. I'll miss you. Thanks for helping me come back." Beca didn't elaborate on the fact that they were referring to her ex. The hug went on for a few moments longer. Neither girl was particularly verbose so they preferred to hug it out.

"And I'm serious, if I ever need a publicist I'm calling you," she said. They broke apart and Aubrey gave her a quick hug. "And it was nice to meet you, Natalie."

"You too," she said. "Hopefully I'll see you again." That brought a smile to her roommates face. Aubrey waved as they got into the car and Beca honked as she drove away. Aubrey was looking into the rear view mirror.

"Natalie's hugging her," Aubrey said. "Cute."

"CR means a lot to me," Beca said. "I'm serious about kicking her ass if she fucks her over."

"I know," Aubrey said. "CR acts all tough but she's not. She's actually really sensitive and sweet. And I know how much you guys mean to each other."

Their plan was to catch up with Marina, her dad and Sheila for brunch and then drive from Atlanta to Durham, where Aubrey's father lived, spend the evening there and then continue on the next day.

By the time they got to North Carolina it was around dinner time. William, Aubrey's father, was pleased to see them and congratulated Beca on her graduation. They went out to eat, and were in bed relatively early, worn out by the driving they'd done during the day.

The next day they set out just after breakfast, promising a lengthier stay to Aubrey's father at Thanksgiving, and began the final leg of their journey. Beca started to get anxious when she hit the New York City traffic and Aubrey had to keep a hand on her knee to stop her from winding the window down and yelling at the obnoxious drivers that seemed to populate the city. Mercifully, they finally got to the apartment building that they now both called home.

The building had car spaces for every apartment, and since Aubrey hadn't bothered with a car since she got to New York, Beca parked hers in the space marked 6C. They toted all of the boxes and cases from the car to the apartment, and then collapsed on the couch together.

"Welcome home," Aubrey said, kissing her on the temple. They sat there for a few minutes before acknowledging that it would be better to keep going than stop. First, she texted her dad and then Cynthia Rose to let them know they'd arrived safely, and then they went into unpacking mode.

They ate delivered Thai and drank cold beer as they unpacked Beca's stuff into the apartment. It didn't take long - Aubrey had prepared for her arrival by making space for her clothes and stuff, and setting aside a large space and empty desk for her music stuff and all her mixing equipment. She wanted Beca to feel as at home in the apartment as she did. When the last thing was finally put away, they groggily stumbled toward the shower together, and then into bed, not able to do much more than pull each other close before they fell asleep.

The next morning was a different story. Aubrey was awake long before Beca, long enough to get in a run on the treadmill parked in a corner of the spacious living room and make coffee. She brought a cup in to Beca, who was stirring, setting it down on the bedside table. Beca sat up and drank half the mug in long gulps. Then she held a hand out to her girlfriend, pulling her down onto the bed. She rolled on top of her.

"What are you doing?" Aubrey asked, pulling back. "I'm sweaty and gross."

"Well, I thought it was about time I made love to my girlfriend in our house," Beca said. She ran a finger down toward the valley of her breasts. "Unless you're too sweaty and-"

"No," Aubrey said, pulling her back down. "No unless." Beca smirked and leaned down to kiss her deeply.


	2. Chapter 2

They quickly found their routine. Aubrey was always up first, early, and Beca would wait until she heard the shower to get out of bed. Coffee would be ready and waiting as soon as Aubrey finished her shower, after which they'd eat breakfast together before Beca took her shower. Obviously, they sometimes altered the plan a little, making the most of the fact that they were sharing a bed. And a shower. And sometimes a living room. And occasionally a kitchen.

Aubrey started work two weeks after Beca moved in, and Beca was due to start the week after that. During this time they both had to fill in paperwork and have medicals, and then on top of that, they both had to map out their commutes. They worked around the same distance apart, but Beca's subway lines were more crowded so she'd have to leave earlier. It left her a buffer so that if there were delays she wouldn't be late for work but if the travel was clear she'd have time for a bonus cup of coffee. Aubrey on the other hand had a quieter rail line, but her security procedure getting in and out of work was way more intense.

There was a supermarket within walking distance, and a smattering of coffee shops and take away restaurants. Neither of them was much for cooking, and during Aubrey's three years in the apartment, they'd narrowed down the good ones from the bad. All in all, Beca felt like she was living the dream. It was vastly different to the plans she'd put into place when she'd arrived in Barden, but those plans paled in comparison to what she had now.

Aubrey started work, and Beca took responsibility for doing the cleaning and buying of groceries. By the end of the first week, Aubrey was already absolutely raving about how much she enjoyed her job. It had been a big surprise to her father when she'd turned down a well-paying corporate law job for an okay-paying job at the United Nations, but it was certainly prestigious. Beca loved listening to how excited she was about it. Nothing made her happier than seeing how happy Aubrey was.

When she got home from work Friday, Beca was listening to music and sitting at the desk and going over her orientation package for her first day of work on Monday. Aubrey came in and pulled the headphones off, turning the swivel chair around and planting herself in the brunette's lap. Beca kissed her tenderly.

"Hi," she said. Aubrey kissed her again.

"Hi," Aubrey replied. "Ready to take on the music industry?"

"I don't know," Beca said. "I'm really nervous, to be honest. I know they were really interested, and Marcus has said over and over that they were very interested in my stuff, but I could still fuck it all up."

"But you won't," Aubrey said. "Because you understand music like nobody I've ever known. And you're talented and you work hard. Trust me Beca, you're going to kill it." Beca smiled at her.

"I love you," Beca said.

"I love you too. Now, are you all prepared? You don't need to pick anything up?"

"I was thinking I might go and grab another hard drive," Beca said. "I'd rather use an empty drive than one that already has my stuff on it. Keep it separate."

"We can do that tomorrow," Aubrey said. "I'd like to get a few things to wear to work."

"I'm so glad our dress is way casual," Beca said. "I'd never be able to wear skirts every day like you do."

"If I recall correctly there was a navy blue skirt you rocked pretty hard, once upon a time," Aubrey said.

"I'm not saying I couldn't do it, I'm saying it'd drive me mad," Beca said. "Obviously I'm not going to go to work in sweats, but I like the idea of being able to work in jeans."

"Do we have dinner plans?"

"I was going to go pick up pasta and a bottle of red," Beca said.

"Sounds perfect," Aubrey said. "I'll come for a walk. Have I got time for a quick shower?"

"Sure, I haven't called it in yet," Beca said. Aubrey pecked her again and then got off of her lap and headed toward the bathroom. Beca called their dinner order in; the restaurant was a block and a half away and the staff on the take away counter knew them by name now. She was tugging her Converse on as Aubrey appeared wearing short khaki shorts and a grey tee shirt. Her hair was wet and tossed back messily into a ponytail, and Beca just shook her head.

"What?" Aubrey said as she pulled her own shoes on.

"You're really motherfucking attractive, you know that right?" Beca said. She pulled the blonde toward her and kissed her hard. They walked hand in hand in the warm night air to pick up their food, stopping off to grab a bottle of merlot on the way. Then they ate straight out of the Styrofoam containers on the balcony, watching as the sun set and the bright lights of the city began to turn on.

When Monday morning arrived, Beca was more nervous than she'd been in years, probably since the first year they'd gone to the ICCA's with the Bellas. Aubrey could tell, so she wrapped the brunette in her arms.

"I love you, I'm proud of you, and you can do this," she said. Beca took a deep breath.

"Thanks Bree."

"Got everything?" she asked. Beca nodded. "Then you should probably get going. You don't want to miss your train." Beca kissed her and left the apartment.

She spent the train ride with her headphones on, plugged into the phone in her messenger bag. Her laptop case was slung over the opposite shoulder. She was lost in her own little world until she realized her stop was coming up. She made her way toward the carriage doors. When they opened, she felt a violent shove, and she didn't know what was going on. She felt another shove as she got onto the platform and searing pain in her right hand as she felt it hit something hard. Then she realized someone had just taken the laptop bag off of her right shoulder.

"Hey!" she called after the figure. "Get back here asshole!" It was futile, though. He'd already gone. She couldn't believe what had just happened. This was not an ideal first day of work, not at all.

"You okay?" a female voice said.

"That asshole stole my fucking laptop," she said angrily.

"Yeah, I saw that," the woman said. She was middle aged and wearing a t-shirt and what looked like hospital scrub bottoms. "But I was asking about your hand." She gestured to Beca's right hand. The smaller woman looked down and saw that two of her fingers were bent out at an odd angle.

"Huh," Beca said. "Now that you mention it, it does fucking hurt. My wrist too."

"I'm a nurse at City ER," she said. "You should come and get that looked at. You can also file a police report. Come on."

"Jesus," Beca said. "Yeah, okay. I hope this isn't an omen or something."

"What do you mean?" she asked, as they began to walk.

"I'm on my way to my first day at work," Beca said. "Which reminds me, I'm going to have to call my boss and tell him I won't be there. This is just excellent."

"If they give you any trouble, just let me talk to them," she said. "I'm Jenny, by the way."

"Beca," she replied. She pulled her phone out and dialed Marcus. "Marcus? Beca Mitchell."

"Hey Beca, On your way?"

"I was," she said gingerly. "Then I got mugged on the subway. Now I'm on my way to City ER."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," she said. "He got my laptop and hard drive, plus my hand is a little messed up. Fingers are pointing in directions that they don't normally point in, that sort of thing."

"Wow," he said. "Okay, today was mainly a meet and greet type thing anyway. I'll get HR to email you the insurance details, because you were covered as soon as we signed it all. Just make sure you file the police report because it'll make the insurance guys see that you're legit, okay?"

"Sweet," she said. "Thanks Marcus. I swear, I'll do whatever it takes to make it up."

"We can talk about that tomorrow," he said. He hung up and Beca let out a relieved sigh.

"Everything okay?" Jenny asked. She pointed to a crosswalk.

"He was surprisingly chill," Beca said. "He's emailing me the insurance details."

"We're just up the next side of this block," Jenny said. She steered Beca into the emergency room and spoke quickly with a nurse at a counter. They both looked at her hand, and the second nurse started a chart for her and promised a doctor would see her soon. She got Beca to answer some questions for the chart, age, next of kin, that sort of thing. Then she pointed Beca to a chair and said it wouldn't be long, and that someone would call the cops so she could file a report. Beca thanked her and sat in the hard plastic chair. She dug out her phone, figuring she should probably call Aubrey.

"Aubrey Posen," her girlfriend's voice came.

"Bree it's me," Beca said.

"Beca? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I'm at City ER," she said.

"What!? How bad?" she said, alarmed. "I'll be there in an hour."

"No, it's not that bad," Beca said. "I got mugged on the subway. There was a nurse on the train platform, she brought me in. I'd say my fingers are dislocated."

"But you're okay?" Aubrey said.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm pretty okay. The dude got my laptop and stuff, so I'll need a new one at some point. I already called Marcus, he's sending through the insurance details, and I have to file a police report."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" Aubrey worried.

"How about we wait and see what the doctor says and I'll call you back?" Beca compromised. Aubrey relented, and made Beca swear she'd call her in an hour. They hung up and Beca fidgeted in her seat. Her wrist was really hurting and her fingers were starting to get a little cold. She thought that might be a bad sign. The nurse at the desk looked busy, but she figured it might warrant an interruption.

"Excuse me?" she said. The nurse looked up. "Sorry to be that pain in the ass patient. I'm the mugging?"

"Jenny brought you in," she said.

"Yeah, um, do you know how long this is going to take? I know it's normally a severity thing, but my fingers are getting cold and I'm pretty sure that's bad." The nurse quirked an eyebrow. She reached out and took Beca's hand, then felt the skin on her uninjured fingers then her injured fingers in turn. Then she pressed down on Beca's nail and watched how long it took for the color to return.

"Come on back," she said. She brought Beca back to a room where there were four beds, two others occupied but neither occupant looking particularly ill. Probably cases like hers, she figured. Nothing contagious, probably minor. Then the nurse went and grabbed the first white coat she saw and dragged them into the room.

"Dr Liebermann, Beca Mitchell," she said. "Beca was mugged on the subway this morning, obvious dislocation to two digits. Now they're getting cold and she has poor cap refill. Also complains of wrist pain."

"Okay," the doctor said. The nurse smiled and left. The doctor repeated the same actions the nurse did and he also didn't like the results much. "Miss Mitchell, I'm a little worried that the blood flow to your fingers might be compromised by the dislocation. Normally we'd x-ray you and then do a reduction, but I don't think we can afford to wait that long. So, if it's okay with you, I'd rather call an orthopedic specialist down to reduce them right now, and we'll take the x-ray after. I really just want to get the blood back into your fingers."

"Sounds good to me doc," she said. "I'm pretty attached to them." He got up and went to the phone, dialing a number and sitting back down. A young nurse came in and fastened a patient ID bracelet on her unhurt wrist, took her temperature and her blood pressure.

"While we wait, how's the wrist?" the doctor said.

"Hurts like hell," Beca said. There was a graze and some nasty bruises forming on it. He gingerly took her wrist and felt around the bones. Beca winced once or twice as he did so.

"I'd bet on a couple fractures in there as well," he said. "We'll x-ray it when we do the fingers. Mugged?"

"He got my laptop and a few accessories," she said. "I was on my way to my first day at work." He looked sympathetic. A tall woman with silvery hair came in.

"Liebermann?" she said in a clipped voice. She looked busy but competent.

"Dr Hartley, this is Beca Mitchell," he said. He quickly explained that he wanted to reduce them now so she got her circulation back. The woman sat down and took her fingers.

"This might hurt," she said. She touched them a few times. "Have you had any pain relief?"

"Not yet," Beca said. "The wrist hurts way more, to be honest."

"I'll be frank," she said. "I'm going to pop them back into place. It's going to hurt a hell of a lot as I do it, but then it'll be fine. You'll probably feel some pins and needles as the blood returns." Beca wrinkled her nose.

"Okay," she said. "Let's do it. Don't tell me when, just do it." She screwed her eyes shut and felt the doctor take her hand. Then there was an unbelievable burst of pain as one of her fingers was wrenched back into place. She grunted as the second one went back in, but then found that the doctor had been right, it didn't hurt any more.

"Let me know if there's anything on the films I should see," the woman said to Dr Liebermann.

"Thanks doc," Beca said. Her hand had started to swell a little. Dr Liebermann picked up her chart and wrote on it for a few moments. Then he touched her fingers again, tested their temperature and pressed on her nails again.

"That already looks better," he said. "So a nurse is going to come and get you for x-rays. She's also going to bring you some pain relief. Are you allergic to anything?"

"Nothing that I'm aware of," she said.

"We'll go with Percocet," he said. "We'll keep an eye on you in case there's a reaction while we wait for the film. See you soon, okay?" She nodded and he moved on. She wasn't alone for long before the nurse returned with a wheelchair.

"Seriously?" Beca said. "It's my hand."

"Policy," she said with a smile. "Seems mental, but you know. I've also got your Percocet. So the deal is this. You get in the chair, you get the drugs." Beca took the pills and dutifully got up and sat in the chair. The x-ray was painless and quick, thanks in large part to the Percocet, and before long the nurse was returning her to her room. Once she was deposited safely back into the room, she called Aubrey to update her.

"Beca?" Aubrey said. Beca could hear the worried tone even through the drug haze that was beginning to settle. "How are you?"

"They popped my fingers back in place," she said. "And gave me Percocet. I'm waiting for my x-rays to come back."

"Percocet?" Aubrey said.

"Yep," Beca said. "I like it."

"I'll be there soon," Aubrey said. "I called my boss and explained the situation, it's fine for me to come. Just sit tight. Have the police been?"

"Not yet," Beca said.

"Alright, I'll be there soon," Aubrey said. "I love you."

"Love you too," Beca said. She kicked off her boots and lay back on the bed as she felt her eyelids begin to droop. She fell into a half-sleep, dozing through the painkillers until she heard familiar footsteps and roused herself into consciousness.

"Beca?" came Aubrey's voice. The nurse from earlier was escorting her.

"Bree," she said. "You're here."

"Yeah I am," Aubrey said. "There are some police officers outside as well if you think you can talk to them."

"Yeah," she said. "I feel floaty, but I can remember what happened." The nurse checked her vitals quickly and then told the cops they could come in. Aubrey sat next to her as she answered their questions about what exactly the man had managed to take and what she remembered about him. They said they'd file the report and gave her an incident number, but were honest about the fact that the sorts of thefts were generally hard to solve. Beca was smart enough to have backed up her machine, and she was also smart enough to have password protection, but the police intimated that it generally led to the machine being completely erased and rebooted or destroyed and tossed.

When the cops left Dr Liebermann returned with her x-rays. He confirmed for her that her fingers had been aligned just fine but her wrist was fractured in three places. Aubrey stepped over to check out the x-rays.

"Is she going to need a cast?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so," he said. "Are you right handed?"

"No," Beca said. "There's something that's finally going my way."

"Well, we'll pop the cast on your wrist and those fingers and you can go home," he said. "I'll give you a prescription for more Percocet because this is probably going to hurt for a while."

"Okay," she said. Aubrey sat next to her on the bed as they waited. Beca was starting to get fatigued and curled up against Aubrey's side. The nurse returned with insurance paperwork and Aubrey filled it in for Beca using the information from the email on her phone. It wasn't much longer before the cast was put on, and once it had dried up a bit Aubrey was allowed to check her out.

"You can get the cast off in six weeks at the clinic upstairs," Dr Liebermann said. "But you'll be fine. Two pills every four to six hours but no more than eight in twenty four hours, okay? After you run out a little codeine will suffice, but it's probably best not to prolong painkillers."

"Sure thing," Beca said. "And thanks for your help doc."

"No problems. Take care," he said. Aubrey took Beca's hand and they headed back toward the subway. It was well after lunchtime now, and neither of them had eaten.

"Will you be okay to stop off and grab something to eat?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "I'm starving, to be honest." Aubrey bought the appropriate tickets and they headed to grab some lunch. After they were done, Beca assumed they were going to head straight home, but Aubrey paused in front of a tech store.

"What?" Beca asked.

"You need a new laptop," Aubrey said. "And a hard drive and software."

"Yeah but that can wait til I get paid," Beca said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Aubrey said. "I'll buy it now. You can be set up and ready to go by tomorrow. No skimping either, whatever you need."

"Bree that might run more than you're thinking," she said. "I can't let you do that."

"Yeah, you can," Aubrey said. "Call it an investment in your future, call it me loving you a whole lot and believing in you, call it I've got more money than I need, I don't care." Beca bit her lip.

"You're sure?"

"Yes I'm sure," Aubrey said. Beca planted a soft kiss on her cheek and they went inside. Given what had already happened to Beca once that day, after they were done inside the store, Aubrey called a cab for the remainder of the trip. Beca used the ride to call Marcus and let her know she would be in the next day. By the time they got home Beca was starting to feel the pain in her wrist again and was getting grumpy. Aubrey gave her more Percocet and deposited her in a warm bath, a plastic bag taped securely over her arm and hand. When she checked on her about ten minutes later, Beca was asleep, arm hanging over the rim of the tub. Aubrey smiled and grabbed her phone to take a quick picture before she woke the girl up enough to wrap a towel around her and get her into the bedroom. She wrangled her into a shirt and some underwear, and pulled a blanket up to her waist. Then she grabbed her computer and sat next to her, reading up for work the next day and waiting for her to wake.


	3. Chapter 3

Aubrey was reluctant to let Beca catch the subway the next day, especially since she was still taking painkillers. So until Beca weaned herself from all pain relief it was agreed that she'd catch a taxi to work in the mornings and in the evenings Aubrey would come to Epic and they'd ride the subway home together.

On Tuesday she arrived eager to play catch up on anything she had missed. She made her way to the third floor where she met Marcus outside the conference room they were based in. She explained that she was still on painkillers so might get a bit fuzzy from time to time. He offered her more time off but she didn't want to get too far behind, so he ushered her inside so she could meet her colleagues for the first time.

"Everyone, this is Beca Mitchell," Marcus said. "Beca, this is Luis, Gary, Sharelle, Nina, Beau and Delilah." Beca waved her hand at them all.

"How is the hand?" Nina asked, nodding at the cast.

"Broken," Beca said. "Hurts like a bitch. The cops aren't optimistic but it could have been much worse. Plus, I'm left handed so at least I'll still be able to work okay." She sat between Nina and Sharelle and unpacked her gear as best she could. Marcus brought a folder to her and set it down.

"If you want we can grab lunch later and I'll run through what we covered yesterday," Sharelle said.

"Thanks," Beca said.

"We're starting off with the boring stuff, I'm afraid," Marcus said. "Ethics and copyright." Beca pulled out her phone and set it to record in case she started to get drowsy, and pulled out a pen to take notes. Aubrey had told her that active note taking would help keep her brain alert, even if it was writing down exactly what the person was saying.

She survived until it was time for a coffee break, but she was noticing some pain in her wrist. She popped half a Percocet in her mouth and washed it down with her coffee, and joined her colleagues. She appeared to be a little younger than most of them, but they all seemed okay so far, except Luis who was pretty arrogant and talked about himself almost exclusively.

"So how bad is the hand?" Luis asked. "You all doped up?"

"Well, I had two dislocated fingers that they had to pop into place before I lost blood flow," Beca said, "And I have three fractures in my wrist. So it's pretty bad. And yeah, I'm on the good stuff, but I don't want to take my full dose or I'll be snoring on Nina's shoulder by lunch."

"Was it scary?" Delilah asked.

"I didn't even realise it was happening until it was done," Beca said, shrugging. "I've got six weeks with this lovely cast." Marcus herded them all back into the conference room and began the second part of his ethics and copyright talk. Beca didn't doze off, which she was glad about, but she was pretty wrecked come lunch time when she followed Sharelle downstairs.

"Okay," Beca said, "I need carbs and saturated fats and possibly sugar. Is there somewhere around here that does burgers?"

"Yeah, around the corner," she said. Delilah joined them and they ordered their food quickly. Luckily, Beca hadn't missed much the previous day. Marcus had basically outlined the program for them in the morning, which was also in the front of the folder that he'd given her. Sharelle and Delilah had both taken some additional notes that they said they were happy to pass along. The afternoon session had been more of a get-to-know-you for the group in which they had all shared about themselves.

"That makes you an unknown," Delilah said. "Ms Mysterious." Their food arrived and Beca snagged some fries before she continued.

"Far from mysterious," Beca said. "Grew up in Portland, where my mom taught at the Con. She taught me how to read music, play piano. I bought a guitar, taught myself how to play that. I've always been in love with music, and started mixing in high school as a hobby. My mom passed away my senior year and I finished out high school living with my aunt before I moved to Georgia where my dad lives to go to school there. My dad taught at Barden U, he taught in the English department, but I double majored in marketing and music production. During college I worked at the campus radio station, and from there I got some stuff heard, did some DJing gigs around Atlanta, got some radio play there. I also wrote all of the arrangements for the acapella group I was captain of."

"Acapella?" Sharelle said. "Singing?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "The Barden Bellas. We were the first all-female group in history to take out the national title. We won every year I was in college, four national wins in a row."

"So you can sing, play piano, play guitar, mix, you can arrange and compose, and you DJ in all your spare time?" Sharelle said. "Shit, Mitchell. You're dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"Marcus says two of us will get cut inside a year," Delilah said. "But back up a little. All female? Where is the fun in that?"

"We had four groups on campus," Beca said. "One all girls, one all guys, one full of stoners and one who really loved show tunes. I'm not a stoner, not a dude, and my theatre obsession was not as tight as it needed to be for the Harmonics. Plus, the Bellas didn't turn out so bad. My girlfriend was captain my first year. That's how we met, and now we've been together three and a half years."

"Girlfriend?" Sharelle asked.

"Yep. Her name's Aubrey, she graduated Columbia Law and now she works at the UN," Beca said. "What about you guys?"

"I'm married," Sharelle said. "His name is James, he's in law as well but regular law at a law firm. We have a four year old son named Duke. I put off my last two years of school temporarily when he was born."

"And there was a boy back home," Delilah said, "Emphasis on the boy. He heard I got this position and was all, 'Baby you should let me give you some stuff, they need to hear it, I'ma be bigger than Kanye.' And I said no and then all of a sudden I was a bitch so I said bye to that boy." They all laughed. Beca liked these girls.

They finished their meal and got to know one another a little better. Afterwards, they headed back to Epic for their afternoon sessions. A thirty-something redhead in Louboutins was at the front of the room. She looked like she was competent and gave off the air that she had little time for messing around. Marcus introduced her as Annalise Moore from Artist Development and Management. She spent the first session explaining the finer details of what her department was responsible for, which included listening to the hundreds upon hundreds of unsolicited tracks they were sent every week.

"It sounds ruthless," Annalise said, "But if it's been fifteen seconds and we're not enthralled, it gets tossed. We also don't have time to listen to ten, twelve songs on a demo reel. The best song has to be first, and if there's more than five we generally don't bother. It means that an artist can't pick their best material. If they can't decide what their best is, they don't know their sound well enough."

"Sounds cold," Luis said.

"Cold but necessary. We simply don't have the manpower. We get about 800 submissions a week," Annalise said. "At an average of four minutes a song, and an average of five tracks per submission, it would take around two hundred and seventy man hours just to listen to submitted work. It's not feasible and it's sure as hell not profitable."

"ADM is the busiest part of this business," Marcus said. "Sure everyone wants to get into a studio, but a lot of what happens in the studio is reliant on a flawless ADM department. And we have one. Annalise has been in her role now nine months, but she spent seven years under the best in the business. As far as Epic goes, she is the gatekeeper."

"We've got a lot of work to cover, but we are also always looking for something special," Annalise said. "We want to be in a position to be first with a new sound. The absolute cutting edge. Given that you guys are the very best of the applicants that we received, we do have a couple of opportunities for you guys to flaunt your stuff to us, outside the program, and the first one starts now." She pulled some flash drives from her briefcase.

"This isn't mandatory, it's just for fun, or to show us a little something, if that's what you're into," Annalise said. "I'm not expecting PR buffs to have a crack at this. Each flash drive contains three tracks that were recorded by staff here. Intentionally shit. We like to give them to the grads who want to get into engineering and producing and see how much natural skill they have. So, like I said. Three tracks. Fix them."

"Fix them?" Nina asked.

"Turn them into something you'd consider playable and give them back," Annalise said. "There's no time frame, nothing like that, just some professional curiosity. Who wants one?" Everyone took one except Beau and Sharelle. Beca had learned at lunch that Sharelle had studied PR and was looking to get into management, and Beau had the same career goal. Luis took his and announced with great fanfare that he'd be a household name by the end of the semester, causing almost everyone to roll their eyes.

"What's his deal?" Beca asked Sharelle quietly.

"He helped out in the studio for a track that hit the club chart in the UK," Sharelle said. "He says he engineered it, but Google says otherwise. More than likely he was just an intern or a gofer or something, he doesn't even have a recommendation from the studio. Immense wanker, if you ask me."

"Good to see my first impression was accurate," Beca replied. She raised her hand and Annalise handed her a flash drive.

"I didn't see you yesterday," she said, confused. "Hang on, you're the one who got mugged?"

"Yeah, that's me," Beca said. "Beca Mitchell. I'm fine though. Ready to work."

"Good," Annalise said with a smile. "Now. Coffee break, then we tour Epic's studio levels." The tour was comprehensive. They saw inside several of the recording studios, had a quick rundown on some of the technical aspects and toured the instrument cave. It was mostly pianos, stuff people didn't normally lug into studios.

"How many people still request pianos in the studio?" Gary asked. "Everything's so poppy nowadays, nobody really plays them any more."

"True," Annalise said. "A lot of them prefer the piano off the studio, to run chords or to do some songwriting or something. But some still use them. Like in a couple of months, this baby here will be in studio with Sara Bareilles. She still likes a piano." The tour was done not long after and they were ready to end for the day. The group gathered their stuff to leave and Beca shot off a quick text to let Aubrey know they were done, then she took a seat in one of the low leather chairs in the lobby, pulled out a bottle of water and took some Percocet to still the painful throb in her wrist. Aubrey texted back that she was still about half hour away, so she got comfortable. About fifteen minutes later a body dropped into the chair next to her.

"Can't get enough of the place?" Annalise said.

"Waiting on my girlfriend," Beca said. "She's not thrilled about me catching the subway while I'm doped up so I promised her I'd wait and we'd ride home together."

"That's not the stupidest idea I've ever heard," she said. "Glad to see it hasn't affected your desire to come to work though."

"I would have been here yesterday afternoon if I hadn't been out like a light," Beca said. "And if Aubrey had let me." Annalise was watching with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Just trying to remember which one you are," she said. "Somewhere near Atlanta... Barden U?"

"That's me," Beca said. The lobby door pushed open and Aubrey strode in. "And here's my personal escort."

"Hey," Aubrey said, coming over and kissing her on the cheek. "I ended up walking the last bit, traffic is a nightmare."

"Aubrey Posen, this is Annalise Moore from Artist Development and Management," Beca introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Aubrey said.

"You too. I was just keeping Beca company while she waited," Annalise said. "Enjoy the rest of your evening ladies."

"Yeah, see you later," Beca said. She reached out for Aubrey's hand with her own uninjured one and they left together.

Once they got home, they both undressed and got in the shower, Beca with a bag taped over her cast again. Aubrey washed her hair for her, then soaped down her body as well, which led to some heated making out until Beca got frustrated that her hand was out of action. Then they moved into the bedroom and dried off, before Beca decided to continue their shower activities. Instead of using her goddamned hand that was encased in plaster up to her forearm, she ripped the bag off, dropped to her knees and brought Aubrey's leg over her shoulder. She felt Aubrey's hands tighten in her hair as she came into contact with her center, and her leg twitched as she began gently suckling her clit.

Aubrey's body began to give way as she kept going, and Beca allowed her to tug her up and onto the bed so she could continue without fear of the two of them falling onto the floor. Beca's free hand reached up for one of Aubrey's as she resumed her position between her legs, and the blonde squeezed her hand tightly. Her moans only spurred Beca on as she kept her pace going until Aubrey was bucking wildly underneath her, her orgasm washing over her in a blissful wave. She sucked in steady gasps of breath as her body recovered, her hand tugging Beca up toward her face so she could kiss her.

"I love you, Beca," she said as their mouths messily collided. The brunette simply ground down against her, her need driving her beyond the ability to talk. Aubrey got the hint and immediately her hand snaked down to where Beca needed it most. As Aubrey found her clit she let out a strangled moan and let her body weight fall on top of her. Aubrey managed to roll them over, avoiding Beca's injured hand, working her hand hard to give Beca the release she was aching for. Her mouth affixed to the side of her neck, then moved downwards toward her collarbone, her teeth softly digging into the ridge. Beca swore and Aubrey repeated the action, her fingers driving into her girlfriend firmly. Beca tightened around her fingers and only a few short thrusts later she came with a satisfied moan. They curled into the shape of one another's bodies, Aubrey softly stroking somewhere on Beca's ribcage as they lay there together.

"I was only planning on washing your hair, but I'm not going to complain if it ends up like that," Aubrey said. Beca turned and kissed the end of her nose.

"Love you," she said. "God I almost need another shower after that."

"I know, right?"

"Instead I vote we order in and eat in our pajamas," Beca said. "I've got some catch up reading I want to take care of."

"That sounds perfect to me," Aubrey said. "I'll order Chinese." They didn't move for a few moments, only getting up when the rumble of Beca's stomach was clearly audible in the quiet of the bedroom. They pulled clothes on and Beca dug her work stuff out while Aubrey called for food.

It didn't take long to arrive, and they ate on the couch. Afterward, Aubrey stretched out with her feet in Beca's lap, reading some novel Beca didn't recognize, and Beca went over the orientation package to make sure she hadn't missed anything vital. Then she pulled out the flash drive and imported the music files, clicking on the first. It was horrible. Pitchy and inconsistently timed, gaps in the arrangement. She hit stop.

"What's that?" Aubrey asked. "Please don't tell me that's the kind of thing Epic are producing right now."

"No, they want us to fix it," Beca said. "There's a couple tracks on here. Annalise said they hand them out to see what kind of skills we have."

"Well, I've heard you make gorgeous arrangements out of nothing, so I'm sure you're going to nail it," Aubrey said.

"I hope so," Beca said. "If I can bring myself to listen to the entire track."

"I'll say. My eardrums found it quite offensive," Aubrey said.

"Pass my headphones?" Beca said. "I need to listen with them on to hear all the detail."

"And I won't have to listen at all," Aubrey said, passing them over. "Excellent deal." Beca just pulled them on and restarted the track. Her pen twitched in her fingers as she began to scribble ideas on a notepad. Aubrey was watching with a smile. Getting to see Beca work, watching her craft something, was something she felt very privileged to see. So when she could, she watched. She could see the little nods of her head as ideas raced through, only the best committed to the paper in front of her. Her fingers would occasionally tap along to try and measure out a beat as the rest of the music flowed.

"Okay," Beca said to herself. She opened the file in one of her own programs and began stripping layers out. Aubrey recognized the face she had on now. It could be a long night, but Beca would have something much better come morning. She saw it was starting to get late and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, which caused her to pull the headphones off.

"Don't stay up all night," Aubrey said.

"I won't, I just want to strip it into pieces," Beca said. "I don't like the key, but I need it to have some of the same features otherwise it won't be a fixed track, just a new one. Should only take about ten minutes."

"I'll keep you to that," Aubrey said. "Your hand hurt?"

"Not so much," Beca said. "But I'll take something before I come to bed." Aubrey got up and went to wash up, then settled in bed. She was just starting to drift off when an arm wrapped around her waist and lips pressed to the back of her neck. She smiled as she slipped away.


	4. Chapter 4

It was easy for them to fall into a routine. After a few weeks they basically found themselves living like they'd never been apart. Beca had weaned herself off of painkillers pretty early and now only very occasionally swore at the cast on her hand, when it got itchy. She was due to have it off the following week. She was loving Epic though, working hard, staying focused and getting to know some of her colleagues. She quite enjoyed talking to Sharelle and Delilah, and the rest of the group was okay too, except Luis. His incessant showboating grew thin very quickly and most people had to remember not to roll their eyes as he was speaking.

Aubrey was enjoying her job, too. She'd come home at night and tell Beca all about what she was working on, not that Beca understood the legal jargon, but she loved the smile it put on Aubrey's face. She was passionate about what she was doing, and passionate Aubrey was exceptionally gorgeous. They'd spend their evenings eating takeout, swearing they were going to learn how to cook, walking the nearby blocks hand in hand, and reading and working side by side on the couch. It was a perfectly easy domesticity.

One night they were curled up on the couch, and Beca saw a post pop up on Facebook. _Cynthia Rose Peters is in a relationship with Natalie Walker._ She hit the 'like' button, grinning, and nudged Aubrey with her foot.

"Look what just became Facebook official," Beca said, angling the screen toward her.

"Aww. That's great, I'm happy for them. I liked Natalie, the whole few minutes that I saw her," Aubrey said.

"Me too," Beca said. "I'm going to call CR. Do you want some coffee?"

"Please," Aubrey said. "This review is kicking my ass." Beca picked up her cell phone and headed into the kitchen, dialing her best friend as she waited for the coffee.

"Hey," CR answered. "What's up city girl?"

"Oh nothing much," Beca said. "I'd ask what's up with you, but it's on Facebook. Official huh?"

"Yeah," came the response. "It's good with her you know? Easy. We can be walking around and I'll just take her hand, and I won't have to worry about who's going to see us, or if she's okay with it."

"I'm really glad, CR," Beca said. "She keeping you happy though?"

"Is she ever," the other girl laughed. "Girl loves to dance. And I'm not exactly the kind to shy away from the dance floor, you know me. She's sweet. I'm digging her a lot."

"So sometime you guys will have to come visit," Beca said. "I'm assuming Mama Peters wants first visit rights, but after that."

"Mama Peters talks to her on the phone every time she calls," Cynthia Rose said. "I met one of Nat's sisters last weekend. She said I was different from the last one, but good different. Apparently I make her smile. Now, tell me about this fancy record label job you've got, bigshot." Beca began telling her all about how the grad program was going. Cynthia Rose had picked up an internship at a radio station, in their public relations department and she said she was grateful for the experience but she was looking for something with a little more guts in it. Beca could get behind that. It was how she felt stacking records back at WBUJ before Luke had let her into the booth.

She hung up after a few more moments chatting, promising to talk again soon, and took the coffee in to Aubrey. "I told CR to bring her girlfriend out here sometime," she said.

"Sounds good to me," Aubrey said. "How is Cynthia Rose?" Beca relayed what they'd talked about, both girls forsaking their work momentarily to share their coffee together. Eventually Aubrey sighed that she'd better keep reading because she wanted to memorize it back to front, and Beca smiled to herself because she loved even the perfectionist part of her girlfriend beyond belief. She was done with what she was doing, so she pulled her headphones on and decided to work on her fix tracks.

They'd been a fun puzzle over the past few weeks. She was pretty sure she was close to finishing the last of them. But, like Aubrey, when it came to the thing she was passionate about, she was a perfectionist. She hit play and listened intently to the track from start to finish. This one had been hard. She hated the vocal and ended up re-recording it herself. She didn't even know if that was technically within the rules of their little game. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, repeating the track. There was just one more thing, she could feel it.

She sat there, unmoving, for almost an hour. Then it all fell into place. Her eyes sprang open and her fingers gravitated toward the keyboard. Aubrey watched as Beca did whatever she did when she worked her magic. After about half hour or so, Beca stuck a flash drive into her laptop and after waiting a moment, closed her laptop with a triumphant grin.

"All done," she said.

"Your track fixes?" Aubrey asked.

"Yep," Beca said. "Finally. I'll take them in and give them to Annalise tomorrow." Aubrey read for a while longer, occasionally picking up a pencil and jotting notes in the margins of her paperwork. Beca just sat there with a hand on her leg, humming lightly and enjoying being with Aubrey.

The next morning Beca handed her songs in to Annalise. The older woman remarked that nobody had gotten back to her with anything else just yet, but promised to listen to them later that day.

During their lunch break, Gary and Luis began trying to plan a night out for the group so that they would all be able to get to know each other socially. Beca cringed inwardly. She was still an introvert, and she wanted to get to know people at her own pace. Plus, she had a sneaking suspicion that Luis would only get more obnoxious with alcohol. And unfortunately for Gary, Luis seemed to be a bad influence on him.

"Come on," Luis was pleading. "Team drinks!" Sharelle was trying not to roll her eyes.

"I have a kid, Luis," she said. "A kid I don't want to bring into a bar just because you want our help trolling for ass." Nina snickered.

"Get a baby sitter," Gary said. "What do you do when you're at work?"

"Okay," Beca said. "Is this a deal I can bring someone to? Because trust me, I see you guys a hell of a lot more than I see my girlfriend, so if I can't bring her I'm out." Luis immediately wheeled around.

"You're a lezzo?" he asked. Beca didn't restrain herself from rolling her eyes this time. "That's hot."

"Did those words just literally come out of your mouth?" Delilah said. "Boy, you're asking for a harassment lawsuit."

"Yeah, you can go ahead and count me out," Beca said pointedly.

"No, come on," Luis pleaded. "I'll stop being a jerk, I'm sorry."

"Fine," she said. "But only if I get to bring Aubrey."

"And I'm bringing James," Sharelle said. "I'll see if the baby sitter can do a late night."

"I swear to god, Luis, if you start talking shit-"

"You'll kill me, I got it," he said with a wink.

"Oh, it's not me you should be worried about," Beca promised. "Aubrey would eat you alive and have room for beer nuts." They settled the location and agreed that Friday night at seven would be fine. Aubrey wasn't as hesitant as Beca had been expecting, stating that it would be nice to meet some of the people she worked with. She did, however, have a meeting that wouldn't let out til six so she said she'd just have to meet them at the bar.

When Friday night drinks came around, they all sat around ordering their first round. Beca was anxious to see Aubrey, seeing her of an afternoon was basically the highlight of her day. Also, it would distract her from listening to Luis, who was already two drinks ahead of the team and trying to recruit them into helping him pick a girl up for the night.

"Luis is not happy with just any dress, you know," he was saying in what everyone believed was the world's most obnoxious tone. "Luis needs something special. Higher caliber. Something that looks a lot like that. That's definitely something Luis needs in his life." His eyes were glued to the front door, and Beca almost cracked him across the skull with her beer bottle.

"Yeah, if you like your dick attached to your body, you won't be going anywhere near her with your third person bullshit," Beca said. "Because that's my girlfriend you're ogling." Aubrey had arrived, and was shedding her jacket. She looked a little stressed out, but still more gorgeous than anything Beca had ever seen. She immediately got up and made her way over to the blonde.

"Hey," she said, kissing her quickly. "You okay? You look a bit out of it."

"I'll explain later, nothing to worry about," Aubrey said. "Nothing a scotch on the rocks won't fix."

"I'm going to apologise in advance for Luis," Beca said. "He's an ass, and the more he drinks, the worse he gets." She brought her over and introduced her to everyone, seating her next to Sharelle and her husband before going to get the promised drink. Luis followed her.

"Serious, Mitchell?" he said. "That's yours?"

"No, I fucking kissed a random and sat her down," Beca said. "And she's not 'that'. Her name is Aubrey, and she's her own. And I swear to god if you don't calm your shit down I'll fucking kick your ass."

"Please, you couldn't kick a toddlers ass," he said as they returned to the table.

"I dunno," Aubrey said. "She got picked up for assault and mal damage in college." Beca shot her a fake glare, grinning. Nothing had ever come out of the incident with the Tonehangers, but it did make for a fun retelling. Aubrey just innocently sipped her Scotch as the group hassled Beca into telling the story.

The night wasn't so bad. Luis did get increasingly annoying as he continued drinking, and unfortunately Gary also got obnoxious after the fifth round. Aubrey seemed to have a lot to talk about with Nina, and also with Sharelle's husband. After the third drink, though, a headache settled behind Aubrey's eyes. Beca could see she was done for the day, and told her she'd call a cab.

"So soon?" Gary asked.

"Yep," Beca said. "I'm taking Bree home, she's got a headache. Don't do anything stupid."

"Yeah, we're calling it too," James said. "I want to get home to Duke." Beca helped Aubrey back into her jacket and dug her cell out to call a cab. She went to the bar and bought a bottle of water as well, handing it to her girlfriend. They said their goodbyes and waited outside for the taxi. Aubrey drank most of the water.

"You okay?" Beca asked, pushing hair from her face.

"Mmm," Aubrey said. "Just one of those days." The taxi pulled up and they got into the back, Beca giving their address to the man driving.

"Want to tell me about it?"

"Well, it's just this one guy, really," Aubrey said. "He's incessant with the hitting on me. I've told him I have a girlfriend, but he doesn't believe you're real because nobody apart from Henry and April have met you."

"So you want me to come introduce myself so he'll back off?" Beca asked. "I'd do that for you."

"Maybe come with me to a function in a couple weeks?" Aubrey said. "But if he doesn't back off, I'm going to have to say something to my boss. It's just so frustrating, I can barely get a cup of coffee without him saying something to me."

"Talk to your boss," Beca said. "Just make him aware that it's going on and that it might turn into a thing if it's left unchecked."

"Maybe," Aubrey said.

"Can't say I'd argue with his taste though," Beca added. "You are exceptionally beautiful, Ms Posen." She kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you Beca."

"I love you, too," she said. "And seriously, if you want me to kill him, just let me know." Aubrey smiled softly and let her eyes close. She was just about asleep as they arrived at home. Beca gently shook her and helped her inside. She declined painkillers, preferring just to curl up in bed next to Beca, the brunette softly scratching her scalp until she fell asleep.

The next morning, Aubrey was feeling much better. She woke before Beca and was cooking breakfast when she heard Beca's phone ringing. She picked it up.

"Aubrey Posen," she said.

"Oh, I was looking for Beca Mitchell," a male voice said.

"She's asleep at the moment," Aubrey said. "Who's calling?"

"My name is Ted Shepherd, I'm from Epic's AMD department and I really need to speak with her as soon as possible," he said. Aubrey went into the bedroom.

"I'll rouse her," Aubrey said. "It's time she got up anyway." She covered the receiver and shook Beca's shoulder.

"Beca," she said. "Wake up."

"What?" Beca said into the pillow.

"Ted Shepherd from ADM needs to talk to you," Aubrey said. "He was pretty insistent." Beca rolled over and rubbed her face quickly, before she took the phone.

"Beca Mitchell," she said a little groggily.

"Beca, Ted," he said. "We met once."

"Yes, I remember."

"Sorry to wake you," he said. "I wanted to talk to you about the flash drive of work you gave to Annalise Moore."

"Yes, was there a problem?" Beca asked.

"No," he replied. "Just the opposite. She played it for me last night and I didn't really want to put this conversation off any longer. It was good. Very good."

"Thank you sir," she said.

"Annalise wants me to schedule a sitdown with you for Monday," he said. "After you're done for the day."

"Sir, it's not that I'm not interested," Beca started.

"Ted, please."

"Okay, Ted," she said. "I'd like that a lot, but I'm actually cutting out at four o'clock to have my cast removed."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, finally," she said.

"So let's do it Tuesday," he said. "Anyway, why I'm calling. At this meeting on Tuesday, I want you to bring us say… ten tracks that you've crafted that you think showcase your abilities best."

"Easy," she said. "That's not a problem."

"Excellent," he said. "I'll see you five o'clock Tuesday, Annalise's office."

"Thank you, Ted," she said. "I appreciate it." She hung up, a broad smile erupting across her face. She bounded out of bed to find Aubrey pouring them both cups of coffee to go with the pancakes.

"So maybe Annalise and Ted from ADM want to meet with me about my tracks," Beca said. "He said they were really good and wants me to bring in ten more to show them."

"That's awesome," Aubrey said. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know," Beca said. "Annalise said the track fix is something they like to do to see what kind of talent they're working with, so I guess that means they like what I brought them?"

"Does it sound like maybe they're thinking about getting you to do other stuff outside the program?"

"Oh, that'd be sick," Beca said. "But I'm not going to get my hopes up until I meet with them Tuesday."

"So I guess your plans for the weekend are pretty booked up," Aubrey said. "Picking just ten out of the thousands."

"It's going to be a bitch. Wanna help?"

"I've got a report to write and about a thousand cases to summarise, but sure," Aubrey said. "Looks like we're camping out on the couch."

"Maybe after we do the whole responsible adult thing and buy some groceries ," Beca said. "Are you feeling better this morning?" Aubrey wrapped her arms around her and kissed her.

"Yep," she said. "A lot."

"Good. Let's eat these really great looking pancakes, then we'll go out and come home and chain ourselves to our laptops and stuff," Beca said. "Just give me a few minutes to change?" Aubrey kissed her on the lips and Beca went to get dressed.

That afternoon, Beca was making slow progress in picking just ten tracks from her hard drives. Aubrey had a mountain of paperwork in front of her, laptop open on her lap and notepad to the right, pencil scribbling furiously. Neither of them had spoken for what felt like hours. Beca rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Bree I'm making coffee, want one?" she asked.

"Please," Aubrey said. "I'm going to be here forever, I feel it." Beca turned the coffee maker on, and heard a knock at the door.

"Don't worry, I got it," she called to Aubrey, and going to the door. When she opened it, she saw a man in ironed chinos and a polo shirt holding flowers and carrying a briefcase. "Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I think I've got the wrong apartment. Is there an Aubrey Posen on this floor?" Beca's eyes narrowed and she stepped into the doorway.

"That really depends," she said. "On why you're bringing flowers to my girlfriend on a Saturday." He looked startled for about half a second, then gave a cocky grin.

"So you're the girlfriend," he said. "Some of us were starting to doubt you existed."

"Way I hear it, the only one who thinks that is you," Beca said. "Or maybe you'd just really like it if I didn't exist. Mind if I ask how you got our address? Or who the hell you even are?"

"Is Aubrey home?" he asked, peering inside.

"Beca?" Aubrey's voice came. She appeared in the doorway and did not look pleased to see their visitor. "Peter, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Thought you'd appreciate a visit and some teamwork on the case summaries," he said.

"You do realize it's really inappropriate for you to be here," Aubrey said. "I didn't invite you. And how did you even find out where I live?"

"I have my ways," he said. "So, going to let me in?"

"On the whole, I think not," Beca said. She moved in front of Aubrey subconsciously. She really did not like the way that this creep was looking at her girlfriend.

"Polite society would dictate you invite me in," Peter said to Beca.

"Polite society would dictate you don't just show up at people's apartments after they've asked you to leave them alone," Beca retorted. "Now that we've established that I am, in fact, real, and that Aubrey still doesn't want you here, I'd like you to leave."

"Aubrey?"

"Yes, Peter. Leave," Aubrey said insistently. "I have absolutely no interest in seeing you outside of a work setting, which I've now explained several times. And don't come back." Beca closed the door in his face.

"Maybe some other time," he called through the door.

"Bree, how did he find out where we live?" Beca asked, worried.

"I don't know," she said. "I'm going to call Mr Brewer. It scares me that he thinks he can just show up here. What if you hadn't been home?" She went and got her phone and called her boss. She looked unhappy as she relayed the situation to him. Beca was nervous thinking about what Aubrey had said. What if she hadn't been home? The guy didn't know how to take no for an answer. The conversation went on for quite a long time.

"He's going to speak with HR," Aubrey said after it was doen, plopping back down on to the couch. "And he wants to talk with April because she was present some of the time when he was hitting on me and stuff. He said he's going to try and be discreet with it as well."

"Should we be concerned?" Beca asked.

"I don't know," Aubrey said helplessly.

"You gotta do me a favor," Beca said. "No train commuting. You didn't like it when I was drugged up, and I really don't like the idea of you alone on the subway with a guy out there who knows our address and has serious boundary problems on top of a major toner for you. It'd make me feel better."

"It's probably a good idea," Aubrey said. "I promise." Beca hugged her.

"Maybe it's time for a break," she said. Aubrey nodded. "I'll even watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy with you."

"That'd be nice," Aubrey said. "My brain suddenly hurts."

"I'll finish up making coffee, you set it all up," Beca said, squeezing her hand. "I'm sure we'll be fine."


	5. Chapter 5

Beca was anxiously waiting outside Annalise's office, waiting for her meeting with Annalise and Ted. She flexed her now cast-free hand, something she found herself doing simply because she could. She was glad to be free of it, honestly. She'd spent the past twenty four hours appreciating the little things she'd suddenly found easier – buttoning her jeans, tying her shoelaces, and working on her laptop. Which had led her to where she was now. In the hallway, waiting. Annalise's assistant had said that they were about ten minutes behind schedule, which wasn't a big deal.

"Beca," Ted said, coming into the hall and taking a seat next to her. "How's the hand?"

"Feels light as a feather without that damned cast," she said.

"I'll bet," he said. "Apparently Annie is late?"

"Only about ten minutes," Beca said. "That's what Georgie said."

"Probably because of the thing earlier with Ahmadi," he said. "Guy submitted a demo and we canned it, it was pure shit. Had no sound of his own, he was basically emulating tracks off of that Justin Timberlake album, Future Sex Love Sounds."

"Good album," Beca said.

"Great album," Ted said. "This guy was nothing. Anyway, his dad turns out to be some embassy guy somewhere and all of a sudden, he's got Annie's email, and sends like a hundred emails. So she tells him to come in, and they get into a screaming match that ends in her saying that he's a talentless hack with more money than talent."

"Wow," Beca said. "Annalise doesn't seem like the kind who would take that shit. I've only spoken to her a few times, but she's very much the boss isn't she? Knows what she's about, what she needs to do, what she wants."

"Exactly," Ted said. "You don't get to be in her role at her age unless you're amazing. And she likes you, so this meeting could be the start of good things." At that precise moment, Georgie appeared to usher them all in to Annalise's office.

"Sorry I was running late," she said. "I tried to pull my schedule back in…"

"Ahmadi?" Ted asked.

"Fucking Ahmadi," she seethed. "Anyway. Not why we're here. Drinks? Coffee?"

"I'll take a black coffee," Ted said.

"Same," Beca said. "Thanks." There was a pot on a bench by the window, so Annalise went and poured them herself, having kicked off her heels, another pair of Louboutins.

"Okay," she said, after there were three mugs between them on the table. "So, Beca, Ted told you we want to hear more of your stuff."

"Yeah," she said. She rummaged through her laptop bag and pulled out a flash drive and put it on the table. "That took me all weekend, but that's the ten that I feel sum me up best."

"All weekend? How many tracks you got?"

"I dunno, Aubrey did the math once and figured that if I had an average file size of nine megabytes I've probably got somewhere in the neighborhood of eight thousand tracks on my hard drive," Beca said.

"Eight _thousand?_ " Ted said. "Seriously?"

"I've been doing this since I was fourteen," Beca shrugged. "It's probably a good estimate. I mean, a good portion are probably shit, but yeah."

"Eight thousand," Annalise said. "We have artists who've been on book for a decade who haven't even cracked a hundred and fifty."

"Can I be honest?" Beca said. "I wasn't a very social teenager. I spent a lot of time talking music with my mom, with people who lived and breathed music. Most of the other girls my age were getting drunk and pregnant, and I was chained to a computer trying to mix Mozart and Mellencamp."

"Did that work?" Annalise asked, interestedly.

"Not even remotely," Beca said. Annalise took the flash drive. "Do you want me to give you guys a minute?"

"No, stay," Annalise said. She plugged it into her laptop and hit play. The sound came not from the computer but from speakers built into the corners of the office. Beca sat quietly as Annalise and Ted talked amongst themselves. They spoke quietly, so she couldn't hear, but she hoped the smiles on their faces were a good sign. They didn't actually listen to the entire length of a track, skipping through and taking notes as they did so. After it was done, Beca put her coffee cup down nervously.

"We want to talk to you about some other things," Annalise said. "The track fixes. You changed the key on one of them?"

"I wasn't sure what the parameters were on the project," Beca said. "But yes. That track needed a minor key. It made the melody so much more interesting, and that reminds me, I didn't know whether or not you'd mind that I re-recorded the vocal."

"So that was you," Ted said. "I knew you sang a little, but I thought it was a ringer for sure."

"No that was me," Beca said. Annalise was watching her thoughtfully.

"What's your endgame here?" she asked. "Are you looking to make yourself into a star?"

"No," Beca said vehemently. "I'm interested in producing, songwriting, engineering. Back of house. I'm not an idiot, if the right opportunity presented itself somewhere down the track, I'd consider it. But that time is not now. I've got too much to learn, and that's not where my interest is." Annalise was tapping her pen on her notepad.

"I told you," she said to Ted. "Didn't I?"

"You did," Ted admitted. "I should know better by now."

"Here's the deal," Annalise said. "You're good. You're actually really fucking awesome. Have you ever worked in a professional studio?"

"Never," Beca said. "I've done some radio work, I've been in recording booths when my mom taught at the Con in Portland, but nothing like what you guys have here."

"You're awesome, and we think you're suited to something much better than the grad program," Annalise said. "The grad program is great, don't get me wrong. It's for people who show a little aptitude for the industry and for figuring out if they'll fit into the machine somewhere. But you've got talent, not aptitude. It's pouring out of you. You've got a handle on half dozen instruments, you can arrange a multi-layered composition, you can switch genres like it's nothing and your ear is close to impeccable. Your mom teaches at the Con?"

"Taught," Beca corrected. "She passed a few years ago."

"But I'm assuming that's where you started to learn?"

"Mom taught me theory and piano," Beca said. "Everything else kind of came after. Nobody taught me that, exactly."

"Shit, you're untrained, too?" Ted said. "This just gets better."

"Our plan is going to be to move you out of the grad program," Annalise said simply. "That's not the question. It's a done deal. It's not going to be challenging enough and it would end up being a waste for you and for us. You just need to give us a few days to decide what we're going to get you to do, and who with."

"Seriously?" Beca said.

"Seriously," Annalise said. "I wouldn't talk about it with any of your colleagues yet, though. Might put a few noses out of joint."

"You mean Luis?" Beca said with a smirk.

"I don't know who admitted him but I kind of want to punch him in the throat so he stops talking," Annalise muttered. "He's not without a little skill, but his mouth is just…."

"Huge? Never silent? Incessant? Annoying? Disproportionately noisy?" Beca supplied.

"Yes," she said. They chuckled.

"So are you interested, Beca?" Ted said.

"Uh, yeah I am," she said. "Whatever you got, I want in." Annalise smiled.

"I'll get back to you before the end of the week and we'll talk details," she said. "Thanks for stopping by." She shook Annalise and Ted's hand in turn.

"Thank you so much," Beca said. "Honestly. I'm going to work my ass off for you guys." Ted smiled as she left, and then turned to Annalise.

"We got lucky with her," he said.

"Are you kidding?" Annalise said. "We need to lock her down into something worthwhile before someone else gets wind of her. I got a call from Joe Holden at Seaside, apparently someone forwarded him a bunch of her acappella arrangements and he's wanting to know what we've offered."

"She seems solid though," Ted said. "Like she'd stay even if she got a bunch of offers."

"She does," Annalise replied. "She's got ties here. The girlfriend, Aubrey, that's long term and she's working in a job that nothing in LA will compete with. There's only one United Nations. Plus New York to Atlanta is a lot closer than LA to Atlanta."

"What are you going to do with her?" Ted asked.

"I've got a few ideas," she said. "You don't have anywhere to be, do you?" Ted shook his head, and Annalise began talking through options.

Beca had just hit the street and was hurriedly calling Aubrey to relay what had happened during the meeting. Her happiness was put immediately on hold when she heard the tone in her girlfriend's voice. She sounded tired and like she'd been crying.

"Bree?" she said. "What's wrong?"

"Peter stopped by my office at lunch today," she said. "Saying all sorts of delightful things about me and making pretty specific threats about you."

"I'm going to kill him," Beca spat.

"No, Beca, I'm really worried now," Aubrey said. "I went straight to Brewer, and they brought HR down to talk to me, but I'm scared. He knows where we live, and he's made it clear that he wants you removed from my life."

"What is this guy's fucking deal?" Beca asked. "Bree, are you safe right now?"

"Yeah, I'm in a taxi," she said unhappily. "But HR think I should be worried too. They're going to reprimand him once and final, you know, switch him to another department as well, but something tells me this isn't going to faze him."

"Do we have to move?" Beca asked. She could hear Aubrey start to cry. "Bree, I'm on my way home, and we'll talk then, okay? Whatever it takes for you to feel safe from that creep, I'll do it. I'll call Lily and have her take care of him, if you like."

"I just feel like a dick because you sounded like you had really good news," Aubrey said. "And I had horrible news and just ruined it."

"I do have good news," Beca said. "But your safety is more important, okay? I'll pick up some pizza on the way home and we'll eat it in bed. We'll lock all the doors and windows and I'll stay awake all night if it means you'll feel safe."

"Okay," Aubrey said. "I love you, Beca."

"I love you, too," she said. She bypassed the subway, taking a taxi three quarters of the way and getting out once she hit traffic, then got out and walked the rest. She picked up the pizza, keeping her eyes open for Peter The Douchebag and got home a little earlier than she normally would have. Aubrey looked exhausted and upset, so she deposited the pizza on the counter and pulled her into a hug. They stayed in that embrace for a long while, Aubrey burying her face in the familiarity and security of Beca's shoulder.

They undressed and tugged shorts and shirts on before doing exactly as Beca had promised, which was eat their pizza in bed. Aubrey was more hands on than normal, barely being able to not touch Beca at all, practically curling up in her lap. When they were done, Beca took the box into the kitchen and climbed back into the bed, wrapping an arm around Aubrey.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I honestly don't know," Aubrey said. "But tell me something good. It'll help."

"Oh yeah," Beca said. "They're going to pull me out of the grad program and give me another job."

"Really!? That's incredible," Aubrey said. "What is it?"

"They're not sure yet," Beca said. "But Annalise digs my skill set, apparently everyone loves my stuff, and they think it's a waste to keep me in the grad program. She said she needs to figure out the who and what, but that she'll let me know by the end of the week."

"Wow," Aubrey said. "That didn't take long."

"They listened to the tracks I brought in, but they were pretty much talking to each other while they played," Beca said. "It's pretty exciting but god it's nerve wracking. They're probably going to put me in a studio, Bree. What the hell? How did I get so lucky? Awesome job, amazing girlfriend…" she kissed Aubrey gently.

"You're not so bad either," Aubrey said. She burrowed even further into Beca's side, eyes drooping a little from fatigue.

"Get some sleep," Beca said. "I'm not going to go to sleep just yet, but you look exhausted, Bree." Aubrey looked almost embarrassed.

"Beca…"

"What?"

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked quietly. "Can you just stay here at least until I fall asleep? I just don't really want to be alone, even if it's only the next room." Beca wriggled down into the bed.

"Of course I can," she said. "I said I'd do anything to help you feel safe. I mean it. Want me to sing to you?" Aubrey nodded and closed her eyes as Beca began. It wasn't part of their usual routine, singing to one another, but Aubrey loved hearing Beca's voice as she drifted off to sleep. More often than not she sang Carole King songs, and tonight's choice was Way Over Yonder.

When Beca was sure that Aubrey was asleep, she slid out of bed and tucked the blanket around her. She decided to take a shower and maybe work on a few more mixes, maybe call Cynthia Rose. When she'd finally had enough for the night, she went back into the bedroom. Aubrey's face was buried deeply into Beca's pillow, almost to the point where Beca was questioning how she was even able to breathe. She shook her head at her girlfriend, and then slid into the bed as carefully as possible. Aubrey's hand immediately reached out and latched on to her own, Beca squeezing it and feeling Aubrey relax.

Try as she might, though, she couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about this asshole who was scaring Aubrey. It sounded like her bosses were telling her she had every right to be afraid but she wanted to know why they hadn't just fired him. And she also was debating whether this was something that she should be telling the cops about. This guy had already showed up uninvited to their house. It worried her more than she'd let on with Aubrey, she'd wanted to maintain a brave face for her, but deep down she knew that the guy who had knocked on the door the previous weekend would easily take her down if it came to it. She ended up wrestling with many other entertaining thoughts of a similar nature until the room began to lighten around her, her body finally succumbing.

The morning was downright offensive. Aubrey slept okay but it had been restless. Beca had barely slept at all, and she'd managed to spill hot coffee on herself not once but twice.

"Fuck!" she shouted. She peeled off the second shirt she'd put on that day, trying to get the hot liquid as far away from her as possible. She grabbed a cloth to clean it up and was just wiping down the counter when Aubrey came in.

"Are you okay?" she said.

"Just coffee. Again," Beca sighed.

"Not what I meant," Aubrey said, taking the shirt from her and rinsing it so the stain wouldn't set. "You seem really… like you're not with it."

"It's nothing," Beca said.

"Beca, don't lie to me," Aubrey said. "I know you too well and you suck at it. Just talk to me."

"I didn't really get any sleep," she admitted. They went back into the bedroom and Beca began digging through her drawers for another shirt. She was running low on work appropriate options, they normally did laundry on the weekends and she'd already written two off. She eventually pulled out a Barden Bellas tee, then kicked off her boots to replace them with converse. "I was up all night worrying about this Peter situation. I don't like that he still works in the same building as you, I don't like that he knows where we live, and I don't like the idea of either of us being alone here while he's running around like a lunatic." She laced her shoe and sighed.

"How much sleep did you get?" Aubrey asked, pulling her up and into a hug.

"I don't know, it was starting to get light," Beca mumbled. "Not a lot."

"Are you ready to go?" Aubrey asked.

"I haven't eaten breakfast and my train isn't due for over an hour," Beca said.

"I'm taking you to get some good coffee and we'll grab something on the way," Aubrey said. "I can't stop you worrying, but I can pump you full of caffeine so you make it through the day." Beca nodded.

"I just want to grab a jacket," she said. She ended up grabbing a knitted jacket of Aubrey's deciding the lingering fragrance of her girlfriend might help calm her down. Then they locked the apartment and settled in at their favorite café. It wasn't a long breakfast, but Beca was able to eat and polish off a large coffee, ordering a second one to go, before she had to leave for the train station. Aubrey called for a taxi – Beca was still adamant that she not use the subway until the whole ordeal was resolved – and as it pulled up, she waved and headed toward the station.

She arrived at work the same time as Delilah and Nina, Delilah remarking that she looked beyond tired. Beca just headed for the coffee pot and topped off her large black.

"Seriously, are you okay?" Delilah asked.

"My girlfriend's picked up a stalker," Beca said. "Some guy from work harassing her. He didn't believe I even existed, then he shows up at the apartment on the weekend. He also spent yesterday's lunch break promising vile things in regards to me and she's freaked out, so I didn't sleep at all."

"Why don't they fire him?" Nina asked.

"They did transfer him out of her department and lock his keycard so he can't get on to her floor," she said. "But it's only been the single report so far. It just blew up so quick, you know? And I don't even wanna think about what happens if he shows up at our place again. I can't protect a damn thing, I'm tiny. Bree doesn't want to move because why should she, and I agree. And there's no way in hell I'm buying a gun or anything."

"Who's buying a gun?" asked Sharelle, looking up as they entered the conference room.

"Not me," Beca said. "Aubrey has a stalker. I'm not sleeping."

"Has she filed a police report?" Sharelle asked.

"Honestly, no," Beca said. "Work are handling the stuff on their end, and he showed up at our house randomly last weekend, but it's not like he's sitting outside the apartment."

"That you know of," Sharelle pointed out. " Where do you live?" Beca gave her the address.

"Let me talk to James, he's got friends with the PD and he might have some down in your neck of the woods. I'm pretty sure if it's being documented at work and stuff you can call the precinct and give them a heads up, so to speak, so that if something does happen there's a history for them to check up on," Sharelle offered.

"Well she came home with a bunch of papers from her meetings with HR," Beca said. "Transcripts of all the conversations she's had with them. They don't do things by halves."

"That's good," Sharelle said. "I'll let you know what I find out."

"Thanks Sharelle," Beca said. She slumped in her chair and rubbed her face tiredly. "I'm going to need that coffee mainlined if I'm making it through today."

"Mitchell!" came a voice at the door. It was Annalise. "Grab your stuff and come with me." Beca did as instructed and followed Annalise into the hall.

"So it's Wednesday," Annalise said. "We've got a plan for you all laid out, and it starts now. First, some contracts and stuff. Then we've got two and a half days to get you acclimatized to our studios so you can help out with your first recording session on Monday."

"Shit that was quick," Beca said.

"We're going to pair you with Jason Harpley," she said. "He did a lot of work with The Fray and a whole lot of stuff with-"

"Michael Jackson," Beca said. "I've heard his name before."

"Good. So you'll know that he knows his shit," Annalise said. "He'll show you the ropes of our normal setups and a few of his tricks of the trade. He likes to let the artist do whatever and just facilitate the most comfortable environment possible. And then on Monday you'll get to assist with Sara Bareilles' new album."

"Holy fucking shit," Beca said. "Sorry."

"Never apologize for profanity with me," Annalise smiled. "Jason either. He's English, every other word is bollocks or cock or something." Beca tossed her empty coffee cup in the trash and followed Annalise into her office. Annalise introduced her to someone from legal and then tapped her perfectly manicured fingers on top of a thick stack of papers.


	6. Chapter 6

The contracts would have been confusing enough if Beca hadn't been sleep deprived, so Beca was absolutely baffled by what was in front of her. She tried desperately to keep up, but eventually had to admit she was lost.

"Look, it's not that I don't trust you guys," Beca said. "But can I take these home and have my girlfriend read over them before I sign? She's a lawyer and she understands all this way better than I do."

"Sure," Annalise said. "Are you okay? You look dazed."

"Long story that involves me not sleeping til 4am," Beca said. "Not anything irresponsible, just a dude hassling my girlfriend who won't back the fuck off. She's tense, it's contagious."

"Everything alright there?"

"Don't really know," Beca said. "Hence the not sleeping. But let's be real, I'm sure you guys aren't going to screw me, but I'd have problems following this even if I wasn't half asleep."

"No problem," Annalise said. "Just give me a call if she has any questions. Any time before nine is fine." She plucked a card out of her drawer and handed it to Beca.

"So what's next?" she asked, after the lawyer left.

"I think coffee, by the look in your eyes," Annalise said. "Go, grab some of the good stuff around the corner, be back in half an hour and Jason will be here sometime around then."

"Thanks," Beca said. "Can I get you something?"

"A soy latte," Annalise said. "Actually, fuck it, I'll come. They always go through the bullshit when I ask for soy unless I'm there." She picked up her handbag and locked the desk drawers.

"Lactose intolerant?"

"No, an actual allergy to some of the proteins in cow and goat milk," Annalise said. "It's more common in kids and most people grow out of it, but not me. And most fucking baristas act like I'm being difficult. I've got a medic alert card in my wallet, but the guys around the corner generally pretty chill with it." They headed to the elevators and rode down. Sharelle was coming in as they were going out, and stopped Beca.

"I spoke to James," she said. "He's going to ask one of his friends in your local precinct to give you a call, I hope it was cool that I gave him your number."

"No, that's more than cool, I really appreciate it," Beca said. "Thank you." They continued on to the coffee shop around the corner. The guy at the register nodded at Annalise in greeting.

"I'll take my usual and for you?" she said to Beca.

"Long black, strong as hell," she requested, forking out the money. Annalise shook her head.

"I'm pretty sure I can manage a three dollar cup of coffee for our newest sign," she said. The cashier smiled.

"One of yours?" he asked, as if they were old friends.

"Yep," she said. The cashier turned suddenly to the people at the machine, having seen something out of the corner of his eye.

"Yo, that was not a full change-out," he said. "When I specify a full change-out for soy, I expect you to change it all out, not just rinse the milk jug."

"It's just a soy change," the young guy said.

"You're new," he said to the kid, "So that's your only warning. Annie isn't being difficult, she isn't just intolerant dude, she's allergic. So full change-out, please." The kid nodded.

"Sorry," he said.

"Not being a hardass," the cashier said. "Normally if it's someone who prefers soy or says they're a little intolerant I won't call for a change-out, but for Annie, it always has to be clean frother, clean jug."

"See?" Annalise said to Beca. "They all know me, except this new kid, but now he knows."

"Does that not make eating out like, the worst?"

"It's not as bad as you think," she said. "There's soy, there's dairy free, and Thai is mostly coconut cream." They got their drinks and headed back the office.

"So are you ready for this Mitchell?" Annalise asked. "It's about to get very intense."

"I'm ready," she said confidently. "This is what I've been wanting for ten years."

"Sara's a good first artist for you," Annalise said. "You've both got acapella backgrounds. She's really mellow and relaxed, kind of goofy, swears like a trucker."

"I totally watched her judge The Sing Off on TV," Beca admitted. "My girlfriend and her roommate were hooked on that show. But I'm a fan as well."

"Just learn as much as you can from Jason," she advised, "He's a wealth of knowledge for someone like you."

"I intend to," Beca said. "Thanks for this Annalise, you won't regret it."

"Ah," Annalise said with a grin, "Now that you're one of us you can call me Annie."

"Right. Annie." She took a long drink of her coffee, and her phone began to ring. She pulled it out. "Shit, it's Aubrey. This can't be good."

"I'll give you some privacy, come up when you're ready," Annalise said. Beca answered the phone.

"Bree? Everything okay?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah, I think," Aubrey said. "HR officially put him on notice, if he comes anywhere near me, calls me, emails me, tries to get on to this floor without a valid reason he'll be fired."

"That's good."

"But what about when I leave here?" Aubrey asked. "What do we do?"

"Well I was telling Sharelle about it earlier and she spoke to James," Beca replied. "He has friends who are cops local to us. He's passing on my number because apparently we can file a report."

"He's only shown up at the house once," Aubrey said.

"Yeah, but you've got all that paperwork from your HR department that outline everything that's gone on, April's testimony, incident reports," she said. "It establishes pattern. They're going to give us a call and we'll see what the go is from there."

"That actually makes me feel better," Aubrey said. "How's work?"

"They've already pulled me out and next week I go into studio with Sara Bareilles," she said excitedly. "I'll be working with this guy Jason who's like an industry legend."

"Wow, Beca, I'm so proud," she said. "You totally deserve it."

"I'm bringing the contract home," Beca said. "I'm too tired to make any sense of it. I'm sure it's on the level, I've just been with you long enough to know that you shouldn't sign anything you don't understand."

"That's right," Aubrey said. "I'll take a look at it as soon as we get home."

"Awesome," Beca said. "I gotta run, I've got studio 101 with Jason starting any minute. Love you."

"Love you too." She made her way back upstairs. Annalise was in her office with a slightly older than middle aged man with an earring and steel framed glasses.

"Is this Becky?" he asked. Beca groaned.

"It's Beca," she said. "What the fuck is it with you Brits and not being able to say my name correctly? It's Beca. With an A." The man burst out laughing.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean, but I like you, firecracker," he said.

"My first boss at my radio job was an Englishman and to this day he still calls me Becky even though I corrected him dozens of times," she said. "I'm pretty sure he does it just to piss me off."

"As a fellow Englishman, I'd wager that you're probably right," he said. "Jason Harpley."

"Beca Mitchell," she said, shaking his hand.

"Get your shit then, Beca with an A, let's go," he said. "You've got a lot of work ahead of you." Beca picked up her bag and followed him out into the hall. He walked leisurely, like he had all the time in the world, which worked well for her and her short legs. They went up two levels and he took her into a studio.

"This is where we're going to be living for the next month or so," he said, sweeping his arm across the space. "Did you tour this one?"

"Not this one specifically," she said.

"Okay," he said. "This is all the business. It's straightforward. Opposite door is a bit of a weird space. There's a kitchenette and a bathroom off the main room, basically it's where the session musos will be when we aren't using them, or when we order the inevitable mountain of food to get us through the day."

"Right," she said. "I've never seen a mixer this big."

"The beauty of it is that it's pretty much the same, only like you said, it's bigger. There are a few features you won't get on your home board, so we'll start there," he said, pointing to a chair. "First though, sit in that chair and set it up so it's perfect for you to sit and reach the top of the board and the bottom of the board comfortably. I'm talking height, tilt, bottom pad angle, everything. You'll spend a lot of time parked there, you want it to be exactly right." They both spent a few moments adjusting their chairs, which felt pretty stupid but Beca was sure it was going to pay off. When she was done he stuck a strip of gaffer tape on the back of it and scrawled her name on it.

He ran through the board, which Beca understood fairly well. Then he booted up all of the equipment and gave her the rundown. She took a few notes as she went, asking a few questions about some of the things she was unfamiliar with. He let her fiddle with the boards, sliding knobs and dials, even putting on an unfinished track to let her hear everything as it would sound during a session.

"You're picking it up quickly," he said. "I can see why Annie likes you."

"I just wanna learn as much as I can," Beca said honestly. "This whole thing has been a trip for me. It's happening so quickly."

"That's a good thing," he pointed out. "They wouldn't move this fast unless they were serious about keeping you long term. I'd bet they probably had other programs sniffing around."

"What?" Beca asked, confused. "How does that even work?"

"Well, industry like this, names travel. Even grad program names," Jason explained. "So the other labels would have been interested to see who we signed, because we're one of the bigger, more rigorous programs. Then they'd look into each of you and find out what you've got. They would have offered you this to stop you looking elsewhere."

"I wouldn't look elsewhere," Beca said. "Epic liked me from the get go, and I'm not planning on moving out of New York. What could entice me?"

"Money."

"I've got plenty of time to make money," Beca said. "Like I said to Annie, that's not what I'm about." Jason smiled at her.

"And that will make all the difference," he said pointedly. "Loyalty is worth more than money in this industry. Sure it's great that people want to pay us a bloody lot, but if you're disloyal no bastard will work with you and all the money disappears, just like that." Beca spent the rest of the day learning about studio technique from Jason, making sure that she was as alert as possible. When she got home, she was exhausted, but she was also really excited. She handed the stack of paper that was her contract offer to Aubrey as she headed for the shower. When she had showered and changed, she found Aubrey perusing it carefully on the couch.

"Dinner's on the way," Aubrey said. "Beca, have you actually read this?"

"Honestly? No," Beca said. "I was too fucking exhausted after not sleeping and Annie could just see it was passing straight over my head. Why? Are they screwing me?"

"No," Aubrey said with a laugh. "I take it you haven't seen how much they're looking to pay you." She held out a page and Beca scanned it until she found the figure. It was… ridiculous. That was the only word that Beca could come up with.

"That's more than three times what the grad program was paying," she said, in total awe. "Is that a fucking typo?"

"No," Aubrey said. "That's how much they want to pay you."

"I'm not…" Beca shook her head. "I don't feel like I should be saying I'm worth that much money before I've even done anything. But Jason was saying that Epic like to reward loyalty, something about making sure I'm not tempted to leave for another program."

"You wouldn't even think about that," Aubrey said.

"I know, that's what I told him," she said. "What about all the fine print? Like medical and stuff."

"It's a solid deal," Aubrey said. "I'd sign it."

"Okay," Beca said. She texted Annie to let her know she was signing the contract. Almost immediately, her phone rang. "Annie?"

"No ma'am, this is Officer Brighton, I got your number from James Tulloch," he said. "I was wondering when might be a convenient time for my partner and I to come and speak to you about the problem he described. I'm free all night, unless an emergency comes over the radio."

"Can you give me one sec?" she said. Then she covered the speaker and talked to Aubrey. "It's Sharelle's husband's cop buddy. He wants to know if he and his partner can drop around and have a chat."

"Sure," Aubrey said. "I brought everything I have home."

"As soon as you like," Beca said. "We don't have plans for tonight." She gave him their address.

"Excellent," he said. "We can be there in about fifteen minutes, and we'll have our badges out when we knock."

"Thank you," Beca said. Aubrey handed her a pen and she signed and initialed where Aubrey indicated it was necessary. After she was done, she turned back to her girlfriend.

"Now, I know we already talked about this," Beca said. "But since my income just fucking tripled I think we should talk about it again. I know we shouldn't have to move just to get this asshole off of our backs, but are you sure you don't want to move?" Aubrey looked like she was seriously thinking about it.

"I'm not ruling it out," Aubrey said. "Maybe we should talk to the officer first and see what he has to say."

"Okay," Beca said. There was a knock on the door and Beca got up to answer it. She peered through the peephole and saw a uniformed pair of officers - a male and a female, both displaying badges to the door. She could make out that the one the man was holding did, in fact, say Brighton and opened it.

"I'm Officer Brighton," he said. "This is my partner Officer Nacilla."

"Beca Mitchell," she said, shaking their hands. "And this is Aubrey Posen."

"Thank you for coming so quickly," Aubrey said. "Please come and sit down. Would you like water, tea, coffee, anything?"

"I'll take some water," Brighton said.

"If coffee's not too much trouble, I'd love one," Nacilla said.

"Sure," Beca said. "How do you take it?"

"Just black," she said. "Thank you." Beca went into the kitchen and Aubrey sat down with the officers.

"So James passed on that you're having problems with a guy at work," Brighton said. "And that work are doing stuff about it, but that you'd at least like a record of what's happened so far to be kept."

"Yes," Aubrey said. "My bosses have been great, but what concerns me is that it all escalated very quickly."

"Can you explain what has happened from the start?" the female officer said.

"I've not told her anything about it," Brighton said. "I did that intentionally. Katia does a lot of these kinds of cases and she prefers to hear what she can first hand."

"Okay," Aubrey said. Beca returned with the drinks for their guests and coffee for herself and Aubrey. Aubrey began to tell the story, that they'd met at work and he'd immediately started indicating he'd like to take her out, which she declined, explaining she had a girlfriend. He was pretty persistent, and since Beca hadn't met most of her colleagues, he began to joke around saying she probably didn't even exist. Aubrey explained that she'd said quite firmly that she didn't appreciate his advances or his attitude to her relationship, and the whole exchange was witnessed by two colleagues. They encouraged her to speak with HR, which she did and they said they'd keep an eye on it. Then she explained that he didn't let up with hitting on her, and then that he showed up at the house uninvited.

"Did you ever give him your address?" Officer Nacilla asked.

"No, and work wouldn't have," Aubrey said. "And we're not listed, so I honestly don't know how he found us." The officer just nodded and Aubrey continued the narrative. He cornered her at her desk and let loose a tirade about how Beca was unsuitable for someone like Aubrey, that they would be good together, and that if he had to forcefully remove Beca from her life in order to get a shot with her, he would do it. That Beca seemed like a filthy little bitch she'd picked up cheaply and a whole host of other things that she hated repeating so that Beca could hear them. Beca, to her credit, kept quiet and held Aubrey's hand.

"That's when I really freaked out," Aubrey said. "Because he was calmly talking about getting rid of her like she's an old piece of furniture and not a person."

"And now the UN have…" Brighton prompted.

"He's been reprimanded for a final time, moved to a different department, his keycard no longer accesses my floor and if he's seen anywhere near me, or on my floor with no explanation, he's fired," Aubrey said. "So I feel okay at work. But not so much here."

"We talked about moving," Beca said. "But honestly, it feels like crap that we'd have to move because some random won't stay away from Bree."

"And I have transcripts of every time I spoke to HR," Aubrey said. "And every interview they did with my colleagues who were present, and forms regarding the incidents themselves and their resolution plans."

"I need to ask you some questions," Officer Nacilla said. "They might sound like I'm being an asshole, but I have to ask them."

"No, I understand," Aubrey said. "Whatever you need."

"Did you at any point, even before it all started going crazy, indicate that you would be interested in him outside of a work setting?"

"Never," Aubrey said. "I stated the exact opposite, several times, in front of witnesses. He's always given me the creeps."

"And you're completely sure that you never told him where you live?"

"One hundred percent sure," Aubrey said.

"And he showed up at the house Saturday and went all postal on Tuesday?" she confirmed.

"Yes," Aubrey said. "That's why I'm worried."

"Okay," Officer Nacilla said. "You've got options. One is that we enter it in as a record, but file no charges. So if something does happen, all this is on hand to support the fact that there's a pattern of threatening behavior. He won't know you've done it. Two is that we file an AVO. Which is kind of the same thing, only this time he'd be aware of the charge, because we'd have to serve it to him. You're a lawyer, correct?"

"Yeah," Aubrey said.

"So you know that a lot of the time an AVO does nothing but piss the offender off," the officer said bluntly. "In the end, it's just a piece of paper, but that can be enough to aggravate the crap out of him, which you don't want to do. He seems like he's gone from zero to sixty real fast."

"Okay," Aubrey said. "I'd rather not antagonize him any further. But what about in terms of our safety here?"

"What are you doing now?" Officer Brighton asked.

"We used to take the subway to work, but now we've been taking taxis," Beca said. "We order in more, go out less. Look, I'm not interested in getting a gun or anything. I just want him to leave us alone. We weren't doing anything to warrant this avalanche of shit, pardon my language."

"You can't do much else," he said. "But even though it's shitty to think about, moving isn't a bad idea. Because if he shows up at your new house we can pretty much nail him on a stalking charge." Beca got up and took the empty mugs into the kitchen. From the window she spotted someone leaning on the hood of a car across the street, illuminated by the streetlight a little way down. She recognized the face.

"Fuck me," she said. She hurried back into the living room. "Yeah, he's outside the building right now."

"What?" Aubrey asked, her face falling and going white.

"He's sitting on the hood of a car across the street watching our building," Beca said. Aubrey immediately began crying, Beca rushing to her side. The officers got up. Officer Nacilla moved to the front facing wall and peered out at an angle. She nodded at Brighton.

"Okay," she said. "You're fine. We're here. We'll just go outside and have a chat with him. Officer Brighton was scribbling furiously in a notebook.

"What's that about?" Beca asked.

"Now it's a record," he said. "Timed to when we started the conversation, which means this gets added on the end. We'll be back after we deal with him."

"This isn't fair," she said to Beca as they left. Beca just stroked her hair and held her close. "And we're moving. To a building with security and a doorman. Day and night."

"Okay," Beca said. "Whatever you like. We can move, we can go live in a hotel until this all gets taken care of, I promise." She didn't let go of her until there was a knock at the door almost half an hour later. She peered through the peephole and saw Officer Nacilla with another policeman she didn't recognize and a pizza delivery guy.

"Figured we'd escort him, given the circumstances," Nacilla said. Beca had completely forgotten about eating.

"Sorry I'm late," the kid said. "Cops didn't want me to come up on my own. Uh, and I would have made it before the free window expired."

"True," the male cop said.

"No, it's fine," Beca said. She dug some notes from her pocket and handed them to the kid, sticking the pizza in the kitchen as the officers followed her in.

"This is Officer Washington," she said. "We called him and his partner in to get rid of Peter."

"He's gone?" Aubrey asked.

"Yes," she said. "He's back at the precinct. We came to pick up your other files, if that's okay."

"Fine," Aubrey said. "Take whatever you like, I have copies of all of this on my computer." She collated everything and handed it to them. Beca saw the officers back to the door.

"Officer Nacilla?" Beca asked quietly. "What do we do? Like, right now? How the fuck do I protect Bree?"

"He's not getting out tonight," she said firmly. "Brighton and I finish up at six am tomorrow and we're going to personally come and sit directly in front of your building - this time not around the corner - until you guys are ready to go to work. After that, we're going to make sure patrols swing past regularly throughout the day and night. They'll all have his description, his car's tags."

"She wants to move now," Beca said. "Be straight with me. Should we move? If you were me, would you?"

"I would," she said. "Honestly, I would. Because I know what the legal system is like." Beca looked at her questioningly.

"Me too," the male officer said. "We lock dudes like him up all the time and the judge just lets them go with a slap on the wrist or a suspended sentence. And no way in hell would I be sleeping as long as I knew he knew where I was."

"I didn't sleep at all last night as it was," Beca sighed. "Thank you, and make sure you thank Brighton as well." The woman pulled a card out and scribbled on the back.

"My cell," she said. "If you guys need anything." Beca closed the door, double checking the locks even though Peter was in a cell. Aubrey was demolishing a slice of pizza in the kitchen. She tended to eat everything in sight when she was worried, and she was practically inhaling the food.

"We can start looking for places as soon as you like," she said. Aubrey nodded as she swallowed.

"I'll start looking tomorrow and start getting an idea of neighborhoods and prices," she said. "I'm also going to have to call work and let them know the cops are involved." Beca brought both pizzas down to the coffee table and they sprawled out. Aubrey almost ate her entire pizza, but Beca was the opposite, barely managing two slices. She tended to eat less when she was worried. Aubrey stuck the leftovers in the fridge, and Beca stuck all of her work stuff in her bag for the next day. Then they simply chose to go to bed and try and sleep soundly, at least for one night.


	7. Chapter 7

They managed to get some solid sleep, but both girls were awake early the next morning. Aubrey silently made coffee as Beca handled breakfast, the two of them sitting side by side at the counter. After Beca had finished half of her coffee she spoke.

"So, what do you want to do, Bree?" Beca asked. "I'm happy to do whatever it takes for you to feel safe. And we have the money to move into a better place, if that's what you want."

"I don't want any of this," Aubrey said quietly, massaging her temples.

"I know," Beca said, standing up and taking over, moving her hands to scratch at Aubrey's scalp, something that she knew relaxed her. "It's not fair. All you did was show up to work and be yourself and this guy's a fruitcake who thinks you're destined or some shit. But honestly, I'm worried. And I worry ten times more when it involves you."

"Let's look around for a secure building," she said. "I think it's smart for us, we should find a place with a doorman, day and night."

"Okay," Beca said. She kissed her on the cheek. "I'll make some calls. We'll be okay." Aubrey fell back against her shoulder and just stayed there for a moment.

"Promise?" she asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "I promise." They got up and began preparing themselves for work, and Aubrey called two cabs to take them off in their separate directions. They went downstairs and saw the two officers sitting in their patrol car in front of their building. Aubrey got into the first cab to arrive, and Beca spoke with the cops for a few moments. Peter was still being held until he could be seen by a judge, and Brighton said he'd be off duty that night, but if it would make them feel better he'd come and hang out the front of the building until they got home.

"That'd make Bree feel a lot better," Beca said. "Thanks. And we're moving, she's decided that it's easier."

"It sucks that you have to," the officer said, "but it's smart." Beca's taxi pulled up and she got in, trying to direct her attention to the work day ahead. Once she got to work, she had plenty of time before she was actually supposed to start so she figured she'd buy a cup of coffee. She ducked into the café and saw the rest of her grad program colleagues were all in there as well. Sharelle came over to check and see how things went last night, and as Beca was relaying the story she was rudely interrupted by Luis.

"Oh, you're gracing us with your presence now?" he sneered. "I thought you were too good to be with the rest of us?"

"What?" Beca asked. She had no idea what was going on.

"Shut the fuck up, Luis," Delilah said. "I heard it from Annalise Moore. Girl's got skills, they yanked her and stuck her in a studio because it was stupid having her locked up in a room with you all day."

"Think you're top shit," he muttered. Beca was ready to snap. She was distracted and tired and stressed, and he was not helping the situation at all. "Probably fucked that Annali-"

"Whoa," Nina said, "Luis, chill. You don't wanna be saying stuff like that here. Making unfounded insinuations like that is just going to get your ass canned."

"Why not?" he asked. Beca was done. She whirled around and leveled a glare at him.

"Listen up," Beca said. "It was not my call to get moved into a studio. I gave them some tracks they liked, the ADM board wanted to hear more of my stuff, so I gave it to them. Annalise Moore offered me a job that I would have been nuts to pass up and I took it. If the only problem is that your fucking precious little ego got dented, you can go fuck yourself. I don't have time for you and your small-dick problems, I already have one asshole in my life I'm trying to deal with right now." Everyone was silent for a moment, and Sharelle put a hand on her arm and led her out of the coffee shop.

"Things are stressful?" she asked.

"Not work things," Beca said. "That guy showed up at my house last night, literally as the cops were talking to us about our options. With all the previous shit, they took him in and charged him. But we don't even feel safe in our own fucking apartment, Sharelle."

"That blows," she said. "And I'm sure Luis wasn't helping anything."

"I just don't have the time or energy to be dealing with his petty shit right now, when there's a guy stalking my girlfriend who wants to take me out of the picture." She sighed.

"Fuck Luis," Sharelle said. "He gave Annalise his tracks weeks ago and hasn't heard anything, so he's just mad. The rest of us are impressed. So what are you and Aubrey gonna do?"

"We're going to move," Beca said. "Brighton said that we shouldn't have to, but if we do and he shows up, it's an automatic stalking charge."

"And what about the fact that he's gunning for you?" Sharelle asked.

"Is it weird that I'm still not even worried about me?" Beca asked. "This is scaring the shit out of Bree. All she did was show up to work, looking gorgeous, acting like herself, doing her job and this guys flips it. I know I should be worried about me but I'm not. The cops are gonna drive by regularly, but I'm pretty okay with us crashing in a hotel or something until we find a new place."

"This is all so scary," Sharelle said. "If you guys need anything, let us know, okay? We'd offer you a room if we had one."

"I appreciate that, Sharelle," Beca said. Then she stopped suddenly. "Oh shit."

"What?"

"Bree's dad knows nothing about this," Beca said. "He'd wanna know. This is not going to be a fun conversation."

"I don't imagine so," Sharelle said. "I'll leave you to it." Beca tugged her phone out and texted Aubrey, asking if she wanted to talk to her dad or if she wanted her to do it instead. And then she called Cynthia Rose as she headed upstairs, hoping her best friend's level head and cool temperament would calm her down.

She was initially ready to come and cut Peter's throat, but she did calm down enough to make Beca feel better. She also promised that as soon as Beca and Aubrey found a new place, she'd bring Natalie up to help them move. She arrived in the studio feeling a little bit better.

"There's the firecracker," Jason said. "This is Mike." Beca shook the guys hand.

"Nice to meet you," he said quietly.

"You too," she said.

"Mike's my favorite studio tech," Jason said. "How many records have we done together now? Dozens?" He nodded.

"Anyway, I just finished telling Mike about you, Becky, so let's get settled in and start talking about what you might expect next week with Sara."

Beca paid close attention to both of the men she was going to be working with, managing to temporarily put her other problems out of her mind. They seemed pretty pleased with Beca's ability to pick up the feel of the big studio easily, not letting the whole thing become too overwhelming. Mike was almost the opposite of Jason. He was quiet and softly spoken, whereas the Englishman was loud and blunt. He declared lunch, and Beca strolled back downstairs to call and check in on Aubrey while she went and picked something up.

"Hey," Aubrey said. "Sorry I haven't called or messaged you back. I was with HR all morning. They're completely fine with firing Peter, and now he no longer works here. Security are going to walk me in and out of the building and wait til my taxi arrives."

"That's good news," Beca said. "What do you think about your dad?"

"You're right, he will want to know," Aubrey said. "But he's going to freak for sure."

"Want me to call him? I'll tell him you're busy with reports and interviews and stuff," she said.

"I've told you that you're the greatest girlfriend ever, right?" Aubrey said. "Tell him if he wants he can call tonight."

"Will do," Beca said. "Love you."

"Love you." Beca hung up and ordered her takeaway pad thai, and while she waited, figured she may as well bite the bullet and get it over and done with. She dialed William's number.

"William Posen," came the clipped answer.

"William, it's Beca," she said. "How are you?"

"Well, Beca, well," he said. "What about you and Aubrey?"

"That's the reason for my call," Beca said. "We're having some problems and I thought it'd be best to keep you informed. Not relationship problems."

"You had me worried for a moment," he said. "What's going on?" Beca quickly relayed the situation in full, right up to that morning and the two of them having decided it was best to move.

"This is concerning to say the least," William said. "He's in custody now?"

"Yes," Beca said. "But we were warned not to hope for a steep bail requirement. He has no record otherwise."

"I won't have you two running around unprotected while this man feels as though he is entitled to Aubrey," he said. "Allow me to make some calls, I have some connections in real estate that could probably get you into a much more secure area very quickly."

"We would appreciate that," Beca said. "Aubrey would have called herself, but she's been busy with Human Resources and the police. We haven't even had time to celebrate my promotion properly."

"You've been promoted already?" he asked, surprised. Beca realized they hadn't told many people any good news lately, just bad news.

"Yeah," she said. "This week. I'm officially a junior producer. I'm shadowing someone who has been in the industry a long time and just hoping to learn as much as I can. I have my first studio session on Monday." She quickly outlined how it had all happened.

"Well, congratulations," he said. "It sounds like Epic are prepared to reward your hard work and loyalty. Make sure they get what they pay for."

"Oh I will. I'm very grateful," she said.

"And I'll call Aubrey later this evening to check up on her and let you both know how I go with finding a more suitable living arrangement," he promised. "Keep me apprised, won't you?"

"I will, William," she said. "Thank you." She returned to the studio for her afternoon session, where Mike explained more about his role in a recording session, and then the three of them talked about what kinds of things Beca might be allowed to do. When the day was done, she called a cab and the second she got in she called Aubrey. They stayed on the phone with one another during their simultaneous rides home, Beca arriving just a few minutes before Aubrey. She waited on the stoop, grateful that the weather was still warm enough that some of the neighbors were still out and about. When Aubrey got home they went upstairs together, and traded stories about their day as they showered.

"Your dad also said he'd call later," Beca said, as she stuffed her towel into the hamper. "He was going to make some calls about a new apartment."

"Okay," Aubrey said. She sounded tired. Beca was worried. She left Aubrey in the shower and ordered in some of her favorite Indian food. When she heard the shower turn off she met her with a thick towel. Aubrey smiled, but Beca could still see how drained she was. She let her get into her pajamas, and then tugged her onto the couch. She turned sideways and encouraged Aubrey to lean against her, in between her legs, and gently ran her fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. Aubrey sighed and relaxed.

"I know it's rough right now," she said quietly, "but we'll be okay, Bree."

"I'm sure you're right," Aubrey said.

"And I know that you're a worrier," Beca continued. "But that's what I'm here for. To listen to you and reassure you. I love you."

"I love you too, Beca," Aubrey said. "I don't think I tell you enough just how much." Beca kissed her on the temple.

"Don't worry," Beca said. "I don't need to hear it. I know it." Aubrey shifted and twisted and met her lips, kissing her softly. Beca cupped the side of her face, keeping the embrace gentle. Then she just pulled Aubrey back against her and wrapped her arms around her until the delivery driver hit the buzzer.

Halfway through their dinner, Aubrey's father called. The blonde went and retrieved her laptop; evidently her father had passed on some information for prospective apartments. While she spoke, Beca pulled out her cell phone and made a call of her own.

"Hey!" came Chloe's bubbly voice. "God it's good to hear from you."

"Yeah," Beca said. "I know we've been quiet lately. Just - stuff."

"Anything in particular?" she asked, and Beca sighed. She relayed the story to Chloe as briefly as possible so as not to distract Aubrey, and then got to the point.

"Bree's super tense," she said. "And I think, if you can, she'd really like to see you. I mean, yeah, I'm her girlfriend and I'm good at calming her down and stuff, but you've known her longer and you guys have that venting-mile-a-minute thing."

"Of course," Chloe said. "I finish work at midday tomorrow, and I'll catch a flight out and stay til Sunday. Is she okay though? Like, really?"

"I think she is," Beca said. "I know she misses you, though, and seeing you would help take her mind off things."

"Well, I'll text you when I know details," she said. "Take care of her. And yourself, Beca. I know you, you'd neglect yourself to keep her your priority."

"I will Chlo. See you soon." She hung up and waited until Aubrey was done talking to her dad.

"He sent me the number of an agent who can show us a few places on Saturday morning," she said. "There's links to the listings as well, we can have a look after we eat."

"Hope you don't mind," Beca said, "But Chloe is coming to visit this weekend." Aubrey's eyes brightened a little.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "I know you, Bree. I know what you need. And you need Chloe."

"Beca, I hope it doesn't seem like I need anything more than you," Aubrey said. "But it means a lot to have her come out. Thanks."

"It's different," Beca said. "Just like I'm always blowing up CR's phone. Plus, it's healthy for us to have close friendships outside of each other. And I miss Chlo, too. I think she'll help you decompress."

"Well then," Aubrey said, "I think we should at least capitalize on her visit and celebrate your promotion this weekend. And the fact that you'll be starting your first ever recording job on Monday."

"That sounds like a plan," Beca said. They finished their dinner and spent the night going through the apartment listings Aubrey's father had sent them. Beca was more than happy with any of the three, and told Aubrey that she honestly didn't care as long as it was somewhere she was going to feel safe. Aubrey ruled one out for being a little too far out of the way when taking their work commutes into consideration, so she decided to call the agent the next day to confirm the viewing for the other two places.

After a little while they decided to call it a night even though it was relatively early. They just lay in bed together, talking and not much else. They talked about things other than the obvious - choosing instead to wonder what Sara Bareilles might be like when Beca worked with her, about when they might be able to get out to Portland to see Marina, about their options for holiday plans. Just as Beca was getting comfortable enough to start falling asleep, Aubrey spoke again.

"Beca?" It was quiet.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" she asked. Beca rolled over to face her, a little confused.

"Sorry?" she asked.

"You've been really great with taking care of me, you've been really supportive and accommodating and you've made sure I've been okay through this whole Peter thing," Aubrey said, "But I haven't really checked on how it's affecting you."

"Oh," Beca said softly. "I am okay, Bree. The hardest thing for me is seeing you upset. And I worry that if push comes to shove I won't be able to protect you from that guy. But I'm okay, promise." Aubrey kissed her tenderly.

"You're amazing," Aubrey said. They cuddled in to one another and fell asleep.

Beca's next day was hectic. She got a text from Chloe saying she'd get in just after five so she'd take a taxi to their place. Her whole work day was getting ready for Monday. Session musicians traipsed in and out of their recording suite all day. Instruments were brought in and tuned, microphones were checked and re-checked. Jason wanted everything ready to go, and Beca learned a lot about exactly how much work was involved with setting up a recording session. Somewhere in the latter half of the day, he turned to Beca.

"So what do you need?" he asked. Beca didn't understand.

"What do you mean?"

"You're going to be here in this suite non stop for as long as this album takes," he said. "What do you need in order to work comfortably? Like there's going to be a ton of iced tea in the fridge come Monday because Mike drinks it by the bucket. I used to smoke but now when I'm thinking - which means when I'm producing - I chew gum. When you're off in whatever mixing land you live in, what fuels you?"

"Coffee," Beca said. "As long as I get regular coffee and there's water around, I'll be fine."

"There's a machine in the other room," Jason said. "It's pretty decent. But if there's a particular brand of bean you like, let us know."

"As long as it's caffeinated," Beca said. "I'll check out the machine on the way out and bring my own. I'm actually pretty low maintenance."

"Nothing else?" Jason asked.

"Nothing I can think of," she said.

"Good," Jason said. "Now your girlfriend probably isn't going to be able to get through to you as often as she normally would, I hope that's not a problem. Annie said you guys had some stressful stuff going on."

"It's fine," Beca said. "We're not one of those couples that has to be glued at the hip. Plus she knows how big a deal this is."

"What does your better half do?" Jason asked.

"She works for the UN in their international law department," Beca said.

"Seriously?" Jason said. "So she's a brain?"

"The biggest," Beca said with a smile. "And definitely my better half."

"This isn't the first album I've done with Sara," Jason said. "She's great to have in studio. Some of the artists around now take themselves very seriously. She's very much the opposite of that, but she also knows her shit. She's also open to suggestions, so if there's an opening and you have something to say, say it. It won't matter to her that you're the new kid."

"That's a relief," Beca said.

"And I've read your file," Jason said. "Parts of it, anyway. So I know that you and Sara are both acapella people - which I gotta say I didn't see coming from you - so you'll get along fine."

"Yeah, I didn't see it coming either," Beca said. Jason laughed.

"Annie showed me a YouTube video of some national comp you won your junior year," Jason said. "Who would have thought acapella was a thing that could draw a crowd that size?"

"I know, right?" Beca said. Jason looked around the room.

"I think we're about done here, firecracker," he said. "You can head out. Try not to tie a big on one this weekend, your days are about to get long."

"Sure thing," Beca said. "Thanks." She checked her watch and saw that it was just before four. That would actually be handy considering Chloe would be arriving that evening, it would give her time to get home and sort out the guest room. After checking out the coffee machine, she called a cab and headed home. On the drive she called Aubrey and told her she'd gotten out a little early, telling her she'd pick up some groceries and sort out the guest room.

The taxi dropped her off and she quickly went upstairs and dropped her stuff inside. She took a quick inventory of the pantry and headed back out. She returned with the few items they needed, a couple of bottles of the wine she knew Chloe and Aubrey favored and took it all back to the apartment. Just as she was packing the last of it away, she got a text from Chloe saying she was in a cab and on her way.

Beca quickly changed the linen in guest room, dug out the extra blanket and pillow, and opened the window to let some fresh air in. She was actually looking forward to seeing Chloe. The redhead had been up to visit Aubrey fairly regularly after they graduated, but hadn't managed to get to Barden as often. They talked occasionally, texted or Facebooked, but it wasn't the same as seeing her. Her phone then rang, and it was Aubrey saying she was also on her way.

Aubrey arrived first, but only just. Not fifteen minutes later, Chloe was pressing the buzzer. Beca went down to let her in and help her carry her bag.

"Becs!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the smaller girl. "God it's good to see you."

"You too, Chlo," she said. "Come on in, Bree just got home." Chloe immediately began chattering as she followed Beca upstairs, Beca getting the occasional word in. When they got inside, Chloe immediately propelled herself toward Aubrey and they hugged tightly. Beca grinned at the two girls, and left to put Chloe's bag in her room.


	8. Chapter 8

Having Chloe visit did them both a world of good. She lightened the mood a lot, and they found themselves laughing and joking like old times. Saturday morning they'd all gone to check out the two apartments. They were both great, but Chloe and Aubrey said something about the color of the floorboards or something equally uninteresting to Beca, and they decided to sign a lease for the first of the two.

They hadn't exactly been living in squalor before, but this was a really nice place. The master bedroom was huge, and the ensuite was equally luxurious. There was a second bedroom and bathroom, and the open space living area would easily accommodate all of their stuff. There was also an alcove that Aubrey liked for a home office. At first she had offered it to Beca, but she had declined. She pointed out that more often than not, when Aubrey was doing serious work at home she preferred quiet, whereas Beca simply preferred to put her headphones on as long as she could be near Aubrey. That had brought a smile from Aubrey and a smartass remark about their cuteness from Chloe.

There was an alarm for the apartment, an extra deadbolt on the door, and three doormen on a rotating roster posted in the lobby of the building twenty four hours a day. The front door of the building was locked after ten pm and unlocked at six, only able to be unlocked by a resident, and by the doorman in extreme circumstances - the realtor was careful to point out that losing a key or being too drunk to find it did not constitute such a circumstance. As they looked over the lease they discovered a clause that indicated that there would be a fine for allowing an unknown person into the building - visitors to themselves excepted, and repeated violations would mean the termination of the lease. That comforted Aubrey a great deal, it meant that nobody else would be letting Peter in if he did somehow track them down. The real estate agent promised they'd be able to move in after seven days, but they said they would likely take a little longer since they were both working full time.

After that they'd enjoyed a lazy brunch and just wandered around the city. Chloe liked New York, she said more than once, and after she graduated medical school she hoped to match to a residency program in a big city somewhere. She wasn't sure when she'd be able to get out to New York again for a while.

After a while, Aubrey said they should head home and possibly get some rest in before they went out to celebrate Beca's promotion. Aubrey had taken care of all the arrangements, wanting to truly spoil Beca for the night. Beca had absolutely no arguments about it whatsoever. Chloe disappeared into the guest room for an hour or two of sleep and Beca and Aubrey headed in to their room. Neither girl really wanted to sleep, they just relaxed and cuddled up to one another on the bed.

"Are you excited or nervous?" Aubrey asked. Beca was spooning her from behind. Both girls had taken their jeans off, and Beca's hand was running back and forth over Aubrey's toned thigh.

"Both," Beca said. "But more excited I think. I thought I'd be more nervous than this. But Jason and Annie have barely shut up telling me how good they think I am and I think that's given me a real boost of confidence. Like, Jason especially. He's been doing this for years, so if he says I've got it, then I believe him."

"And what about meeting Sara Bareilles?"

"Annie is a genius," Beca said. "She picked someone who's known to be pretty relaxed with an acapella background. I'm super excited to meet her. I can't believe in a couple of days I'll be working on her record."

"You know I'm incredibly proud of you, right Beca?" Aubrey asked. "I know your promotion kind of got overtaken with all of this Peter drama, but I am so unbelievably proud of you, and I know you're going to be amazing."

"Love you, Bree," Beca whispered, planting a kiss under her ear. Aubrey rolled over in her arms and pulled her face down.

"I love you too," she said. She kissed her softly but passionately. Beca sighed as she let the top half of her body rest on Aubrey. She kissed her again, deepening it and letting her hand slide into Aubrey's shirt, then up a bit further to palm her breast.

"Mmm," Aubrey hummed. "Much as I love what you're doing right there, I don't think Chlo's alarm clock needs to be me having an orgasm."

"Okay," Beca said. "I promise I'll stop in a minute." She kissed her again, biting into her lower lip. Aubrey's hand came to rest on her lower back, and the other found its way into her hair. They did continue for a while, but didn't push it too far, thinking of their visitor in the next room. But it was a nice way to kill a few hours, better than nice. They'd spent so much time tense and worried over the past few weeks that it was doing them a world of good just forgetting about it all.

Beca curled back around Aubrey's body before long and they just lay there until the blonde's phone began softly alerting them to the fact that they needed to start getting ready to go. Beca offered to put coffee on while Aubrey showered, knowing that she took only a fraction of the time to get ready as compared to Aubrey and Chloe.

Tugging some shorts on, she headed into the kitchen and put the coffee pot on. She heard the shuffling of Chloe entering the room, a little bleary after her nap. "Where's Bree?" she asked.

"Shower," Beca said. "Coffee?"

"Please," Chloe said with a yawn. "So, Becs, how are you?"

"Fine?" Beca said confusedly.

"No, seriously. With all this Peter shit, all the things he said about you. You're fine?" Chloe asked. Beca looked at her blankly. "You don't actually know what he said regarding you, do you?"

"No," Beca said. "I know that it wasn't good, and it was violent, but I don't know the specifics. And I don't think I want to."

"You don't," Chloe said. "Bree says you've been amazing through this whole thing."

"I worry about her," Beca said simply. "My biggest concern isn't even for my safety, Chlo. It's that, if it ever comes to it, I won't be able to protect her. I saw that dude, he was six feet tall at least. I'm five two and I weigh nothing. So if it means moving to keep Bree safe, I'd do it. Hell, if she wanted to move to France I'd do it."

"She loves New York, though," Chloe said, taking one of the now ready cups of coffee as they heard the shower turn off.

"So do I," Beca said. "I know it's not LA, but it's so amazing."

"I know," Chloe said. "You want a shower?"

"No, you go ahead," Beca said. "It'll take you longer to get ready than me." Chloe took her coffee with her and her seat was soon occupied by Aubrey, taking the last cup.

"Chloe getting in the shower?" she asked.

"Yep," Beca said. "So are you going to tell me what the plan is for tonight?"

"You already have all the information you need," Aubrey said. "Dinner."

"I know you Bree," Beca said. "I know you and Chloe have something planned."

"It's a surprise," Aubrey said. She stood up and kissed her quickly. "But don't worry, it's not anything that's going to freak you out. Pretty sure you're going to love it, actually."

"Okay," Beca said. She trusted Aubrey, so she knew that there wouldn't be anything that would make her uncomfortable. Beca wasn't the best with surprises. She heard the shower turn off a few minutes later and headed in to take her shower.

When she had finished, she returned to her bedroom to find Aubrey pulling a red dress on. It was tight number that showed off her ass, clung to her body but was still tasteful. Beca helped her up with the zip, then turned her around. "You look beautiful," she said. Aubrey's nose wrinkled, but she leaned in to kiss her anyway.

"No wrinkly face from you," Beca said. "Bree, you look seriously amazing." Aubrey had already done her hair and makeup, so Beca was careful when she leaned up and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Thanks," she said. "Get dressed." Beca fired off a salute and pulled a little black dress out. While she still favored pants, she did own a handful dresses that she was comfortable wearing. She felt like tonight was an occasion that called for a dress, it was a big deal and Aubrey looked so stunning she deserved a girlfriend who at least tried to look as good. She did her hair and makeup and then put the dress on. She stepped into some ankle stilettos and was just adjusting the dress around her boobs when Aubrey came back in.

"Taxi's on the way," she said. Then she paused in the doorway. "You look amazing, too. I forgot you even had that dress."

"Me too," Beca said. "Thought it'd be nice to dress up." Aubrey was now appreciating the way the dress accentuated her chest.

"You look hot," Aubrey said. Chloe appeared over her shoulder.

"Yeah, you do, Becs," she said. "We ready?" Beca nodded, and they left to wait for the taxi. When it arrived, Chloe slid into the front while the other two got in the back and Aubrey directed the driver to a restaurant. It didn't take too long, and soon Aubrey was holding the door for Beca and approaching the maître d.

"Booking for Posen," she said.

"Yes," the young man said. "The rest of your party has arrived."

"The rest of our party?" Beca quizzed Aubrey. Aubrey just raised her eyebrows with a smile. They followed the man to the designated table and Beca's jaw dropped. Her dad and Sheila were seated at the table, along with Cynthia Rose and Natalie.

"Holy shit, Bree," Beca said. She hugged her dad and Sheila first, then Cynthia Rose and even Natalie. She turned to Aubrey as Cynthia Rose introduced Natalie to Chloe. "Thank you."

"I tried to get Marina out here as well, but she had to work," Aubrey said. "She sent along a long, rambling email for me to give to you later."

"You did this for me?"

"Of course," Aubrey said. "We're celebrating." She pulled the chair for Beca.

"Thanks for being here, everyone," she said. "Means a lot to me."

"We were excited to come," Sheila said.

"Yeah B," Cynthia Rose said. "Any excuse to come up to the big city and hang with you." They had a look at the menu and ordered some wine, and Beca looked around. Some of her favorite people in all the world gathered at one table for her.

As the meal progressed, they all talked and chatted about Beca's first recording job. Talk of Peter and the fact that they were moving to prevent any further drama was well avoided by all of them. The night was about Beca, and Aubrey had insisted they not dwell on any of their other problems. Beca switched seats with Chloe so she could catch up with Cynthia Rose and Natalie between the mains and dessert. They seemed to be doing really well. Cynthia Rose was still sticking out the internship even though it sounded less than fulfilling, but it was better than nothing. Chloe and Aubrey announced they would be visiting the powder room, and Natalie joined them.

"So you and Nat?" Beca asked. "Good?"

"Yeah," Cynthia Rose said. "Real good. I spend half my nights at her place. She spends the other half at mine. It's easy and she's sweet. She feels… I can't explain it man. She feels right. That doesn't make sense, does it?"

"No, CR," Beca said, watching Aubrey come back with the other girls. "It makes sense. Everything feels right when you've got the right one." Cynthia Rose just nodded at her.

"I'm glad Aubrey asked us up," she said. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too," Beca said. "When do you go back?"

"Tomorrow evening. Brunch date for tomorrow though," she replied.

The night ran late. Aubrey proposed a toast to Beca and what would hopefully be the start of a long, successful career. Beca's dad and Sheila were the first to call it, her dad citing old age. Beca embraced them both and thanked them again for coming. Her dad mentioned Thanksgiving, and Aubrey said that they'd be there, so Beca presumed that they'd talked about something when they were setting up dinner. Aubrey paid for dinner and the girls moved to a bar, not a noisy, overcrowded place, but somewhere they could drink and talk a little more.

Chloe shared with the group that she'd been asked on a date by someone in her med school lab group, and that she'd said yes. His name was Noah, and he was apparently super cute, as well as very studious. They had studied together quite a lot, shared notes. It sounded like some of the others in their lab group were less serious about the academics involved with med school, so they tended to be left out of group activities. Beca was shocked. Did they not know that this was Chloe Beale?

"Serious Chlo? I thought you were the party," Beca said. Chloe laughed.

"I know," Chloe said. "But there's a time and a place, and Noah and I don't think Tuesday nights after gross anatomy is a good time to get bombed. We're so close to starting rotations, we don't have time for that." Beca was sitting next to Aubrey with a drink in hand, the blonde's hand resting comfortably on her thigh. She'd had a couple of drinks by now, not so much that she'd consider herself drunk, but enough that she was feeling a pleasant buzz. After a little while longer, Aubrey figured it was worth calling it a night, since they'd be seeing each other for brunch the next day. They called two cabs, one to take Natalie and Cynthia Rose to their hotel and the other to take Chloe, Beca and Aubrey back to the apartment.

By the time Beca and Aubrey spilled out of the backseat, Beca was at the point where she was getting handsy. Chloe was simply rolling her eyes at her overly affectionate antics. Aubrey was doing her best to keep her girlfriend's hands in appropriate places as they headed up to the apartment. She managed to unlock the door and Chloe immediately stepped out of her heels and picked them up.

"I'm going to bed," she said. Then she added, rather pointedly, "and I'll be wearing headphones to bed."

"God, Chloe," Aubrey said.

"Thanks!" Beca said cheerily. Aubrey's cheeks turned pink and Chloe headed down the hall. Beca's hands were immediately back on Aubrey's body, skimming down her sides to grab at her ass.

"Beca," Aubrey said in a tone that was half-scolding but half-arousal.

"Mmm?" Beca said. She kissed the side of Aubrey's neck, letting her teeth nip the skin.

"Oh," she said softly. The scolding part of her brain was quieted by Beca's lips skimming under her jaw. The hands pulled her closer.

"I take it the protests have stopped?" Beca asked.

"What protests?" Aubrey said. She pressed her lips firmly to Beca's, snaking her tongue out. She could taste the red wine Beca had favored during the night, but it was the taste of Beca herself that she couldn't get enough of. She propelled them toward the bedroom.

"Wine makes you all gropey," Aubrey said into her ear as she closed the door behind them.

"You make me all gropey," Beca said. "In your little red dress. You're so gorgeous." She unzipped the dress and pulled it down.

"And you're stunning," Aubrey said in response. She felt for the zip of Beca's dress. "You know I think you're beautiful all the time, but tonight especially." She kissed her tenderly and moved her towards the bed, the dress hitting the floor and causing Beca to stumble back. Beca's back hit the mattress with a thud and she chuckled.

"Bree, I think I might be just a little bit drunk," she said.

"Just a little," Aubrey agreed, starting to undress her. "Want me to stop?"

"Oh, god no," Beca said. "No stopping, under no circumstances. I feel great. My family and friends were here, we had good food, good wine, I didn't think about any of that Peter crap all night, and I had you by my side the entire time. I love you, Bree."

"I love you, too," she said. "You deserve to feel good, Beca." Beca left a lewd kiss on her lips.

"So make me feel good," Beca challenged her in a sultry tone, arching up against her body. Aubrey was more than happy to oblige. She made Beca feel good, more than once before they were through, to the point where Aubrey almost got frustrated waiting for Beca to be able to return the favor. But she did, enthusiastically, before the two of them fell into a hazy state of intoxicated slumber.

The next morning, Chloe was awake first, followed by Aubrey. Chloe helped herself to the coffee and set a mug down in front of Aubrey with a grin on her face.

"What on earth are you so cheery about?" Aubrey mumbled.

"Nothing," Chloe said. But it was definitely something.

"What is it Chloe?" The redhead shook her head.

"Nothing. I mean, I can see why you'd be grumpy this morning, I know you were up late," she said suggestively. Aubrey groaned.

"Didn't you mention headphones last night?" she said.

"I had them on. You guys were louder," she said. "So the sex is still really good then?"

"Chloe!"

"Oh, calm down," Chloe said. "It wasn't like I eavesdropped for every little detail. It just sounded like you guys had some great sex. Good for you. You shouldn't be embarrassed about having a healthy sex life with your girlfriend." Aubrey just drank her coffee.

"Fair enough," she said. "It was good. We've been really tense while all this stuff was going on, it was nice to be out and not so burdened by it last night. Did us a world of good."

"I'm glad," Chloe said. "And I'm glad you two are still as nauseatingly in love as you were in Barden. This thing with you and Beca, I'm just an outsider, it feels like you're going to be one of those solid, lasting couples. A forever deal."

"I feel that way, too," Aubrey said quietly. "I mean, I'm not about to ask her to marry me, and she's not doing it any time soon either, but this is it for me, Chlo. I'm crazy about her, more and more every day. We've both got careers and stuff we're trying to navigate but I'm not worried about any of it. All I need to know is that I love her and she loves me."

"God, I love you two," Chloe said. She hugged Aubrey hard. "And I'm a little jealous. I'm gonna find that."

"You will," Aubrey said. "Maybe even with Noah."

"Maybe," Chloe said. "Go get Beca's ass out of bed, we have to meet the girls for brunch before we all go home." Aubrey got up and headed for the bedroom, to try and extricate a sleeping and likely hungover Beca from the tangle of sheets on their bed, fully prepared for grumpiness and probable swearing.


	9. Chapter 9

Beca waited nervously in the queue for her morning coffee. She was early, very early. There was no point in sitting around the house getting increasingly nervous about the day, so Aubrey gladly saw her off with a kiss and a calming reminder that she loved her. And now she was waiting with fingertips nervously drumming over and over on her arm until she got to the head of the queue. She ordered two coffees, one extra hot to ensure it stayed hot until she finished the first, added a bottle of water and a ham and cheese croissant to the order and waited.

She took her breakfast to the room opposite the studio they would be using and found Mike already there. He was drinking an iced tea and nodded courteously at Beca as she came in. "Morning," he said softly.

"Morning," Beca said.

"Double fisting?"

"Yeah, I'm hoping it'll calm me down," she said.

"Caffeine calms you down?" Mike said with a smile.

"Yeah," Beca said with a shrug. "It's probably a bad sign that I could go to bed straight after a cup and it wouldn't faze me." She ate the croissant with the first cup and savored the second. Mike quietly finished his tea and read the morning paper. Beca heard voices approaching. Annie entered first, followed by Jason and then all of a sudden Sara Bareilles was in the room.

"Becky!" Jason said. Beca automatically shot him a glare that only caused him to start laughing. "Sara, this is Beca Mitchell, she's our newest junior producer. Beca, Sara Bareilles." Beca put her cup down and got up and shook Sara's hand.

"Hey," Beca said. "Great to be working with you."

"You too," she said. "Some of the guys will be rolling in soon to set up but I'd like to grab some coffee and then do some level checks, if that's cool."

"Sure," Jason said. "I'm sure Beca could use another."

"Always," Beca said. "I brought in some decent beans too, so we don't have to run downstairs every time we need a fix." She got up and began making coffee.

"Are you playing barista as well?" Sara asked.

"I just love coffee," Beca said with a shrug. "How do you take it?" She made two cups of coffee and handed one to Sara, who took a sip.

"Damn, I hope you're as good behind a desk as you are behind a coffee maker," she said.

"Oh Sara, sweetie, she's better," Jason said. He held open the door and everyone moved from the suite into the recording studio. Beca took a seat in the chair with her name taped to the back. Mike hovered just behind her.

"Just watch for a few minutes," he said calmly. "Get used to what's happening. Jason and Sara have done this a million times." Beca just nodded, and watched on with interest as Sara tested the levels on both the vocal and piano mics, and a few other instruments she'd brought in with her. Jason beckoned her closer, gesturing to the panel so she could see as he set the levels. Sara gave them the okay from the booth she was in and then came out, chatting with them while they waited for the session musicians to show up.

"So where did they find you, Beca?" Sara asked.

"Grad program," she said simply.

"She's being modest," Jason said. "Annie Moore plucked her out of the grad program after hearing some of her work not even two months in."

"Oh really?" Sara said. Beca was a little surprised at how genuine she sounded.

"And here's the kicker, Sara," he continued, "Annie picked you as her first artist because you two have something in common."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Beca is an acapella girl," he said teasingly. Sara smiled.

"Really?" she said.

"Yeah," Beca said. "Four years as a Barden Bella, four ICCA titles."

"Damn," Sara laughed. "So you really do know your shit?"

"I guess you could say that," she said.

"Well we should track down some of your stuff and have a listen," Sara said. "I'm guessing there's a ton of it on YouTube?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "We were pretty… in your face." Some musicians had started showing up, and they were all toting gear that needed to be set up. Mike disappeared with them, they were his domain. But Sara stayed in the studio and pulled out a notebook that was stuffed with looseleaf paper, dropped it on the music stand she'd pulled over to the piano and tugged a handful of finepoint markers from her bag.

"Good to go, folks," she said. "I'm just gonna warm it up a little." She let her hands hit the piano keys, and instinctively Beca smiled. This was actually happening, actually a thing that she was sitting and doing. She was in a studio. Sara Bareilles was in front of her and she was about to help record her album. Her life was awesome. Sara began to run through some vocal warmups. Jason leaned over toward her.

"We're going to stay here," he said. "She's going to start just playing and singing bits and pieces while they set up and she'll get the feel for what needs recording first. All we gotta do is hit the button, mark every time she changes track. See that button?"

"Yeah," Beca said. Her finger hovered over it.

"Every time she switches gear, changes key, changes lyric, changes pattern, just hit it," Jason said. "Don't lose track, Becky. You've got it." She had a notebook in front of her as well, and a pen at the ready. He pulled his headphones on and Beca followed suit. Sara signaled from inside the booth that she was ready to start. Jason started the tape rolling and Beca nodded to indicate she was ready as well.

The first notes of Sara's billowy voice rang through the headphones and Beca smiled again. She remembered to hit the button to mark every time something significant happened, jotting herself a few notes so she'd have better recall on what came when later on. She had thought that when Jason had said they'd run ideas for a while, it'd be half hour, maybe an hour. In truth, it was almost lunch time when Sara signaled that she was done.

"How'd you go?" Jason asked.

"Fine," Beca said. "I kept up, took some notes. Hearing her actually sing, though, man. I'm still pinching myself."

"This is the sweet life," he said with a grin. Sara opened the door.

"Had to break it for lunch, I swear my stomach was going to start growling loud enough to be heard on playback," she said. "Good amount of tape though."

"Yeah," Jason said. "Let's get some food and we'll listen in as we eat."

"Sure," Sara said. "What are we eating? Is everyone cool with Indian?" Everyone seemed to be okay with that. Jason rustled up a pair of gofers from somewhere and sent them out to grab a load of food that would be enough for everyone. While they waited Beca made coffee, happy to make some for the others as well even though it wasn't expected of her, and then excused herself to a quieter corner of the room to call Aubrey.

"Hey," Aubrey said. "How is it?"

"Surreal," Beca said. "Sara is actually very chill. And it's fully awesome hearing her sing."

"I'm sure it is," Aubrey said. "I've mentioned that I'm jealous, right?"

"Once or twice," Beca said. "What about you?"

"Uh, work sent me home," Aubrey said. "I went to see HR to let them know I was moving and everything, and then they called my boss. He said I wasn't strictly needed til Thursday so I could take the next couple of days to start packing the house and organizing movers and stuff."

"You got home okay, though?" she asked.

"Yeah, I took a cab, and the driver kindly waited until I was inside before he drove away," she said. "I've called a removalist and there's a packaging place that can bring me cartons this afternoon so I can start packing. I don't think it'll actually take us that long."

"Okay," Beca said. "I'll help when I get home. Don't overdo it, Bree. You don't have to do it all yourself, don't forget that."

"I won't," she said. "Love you."

"Love you, too," she said. She hung up.

"Everything okay?" Jason asked quietly.

"Yeah," Beca said.

"You guys were having some stress?"

"Just a guy hassling Bree," she said. "We're moving to a more secure building, she was just telling me she's organized all the moving stuff."

"When are you doing that?"

"Possibly as soon as this weekend," Beca said. He laughed.

"You're a sadist, Becky," he said.

"Fuck off," she said back. Sara was chatting with Mike and some of the musicians around the huge table, but she beckoned Beca over. There was an iPad on the table in front of her.

"What'd you say your acapella group was called?" she said.

"Seriously?" Beca said.

"Yeah," Sara said. "I wanna see what Annie and Jason saw."

"Barden Bellas," Beca said. Sara typed it into YouTube and hit play on the first video. It was their most recent ICCA win. Beca didn't know what to do. This was a little awkward. But everyone huddled around the little screen actually seemed to like it.

"Man you guys are great," Sara said when it was done. "Acapella wasn't like that when I was in college. You won four titles?"

"All four years I was in college," Beca said. "We were the first all-female group to take out the ICCAs." Sara was now flicking through articles on the iPad.

"Oh, you weren't just in the group, you were captain?" she said. "Holding out on me?"

"Technically I was only captain for the last three years," Beca said. "But I wrote the arrangement my freshman year, and my friend Chloe and girlfriend Aubrey were captains."

"You're listed as captain though," she said.

"Yeah, that was something the girls voted on when I wasn't around," she said. "Technicality. Bree and Chlo ran the group all year, I just wrote some music."

"So you did all the arrangements yourself?" one of the musicians asked. It was a tall, dark skinned man with glasses. "That's kind of impressive. You've got what, like… eight different vocal parts in there?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "Plus Lily. She was our beats."

"What's happened to them now that you're here?" he asked.

"There's a pair of juniors running the group," she said. "They're holding their own, from what I hear." Sara had clicked on another video.

"Dude, you guys were the bomb," she said. "I would have been climbing all over myself to get into that group."

"My senior year we had fifty seven tryouts," she said. "I had a meltdown. Had to call my girlfriend and ask her what the fuck I was supposed to do with that many auditions."

"What was her response?"

"Video them all, watch them back later with the group, cut two thirds of them in the first round and invite the remaining ones back for a second tryout," Beca said. "She's a smart woman."

"What does she do?"

"She works at the UN," Beca said. The food arrived and they all piled it onto plates before Jason, Sara, Beca, Mike and two other musicians - Beca had been introduced to them all but couldn't remember their names - traipsed back into the studio to roll some of the morning tape.

Jason cued it up and they listened, Sara eating and talking and making notes all at the same time. Every now and then she'd tell Beca to log a particular mark, meaning she wanted to keep that one for later. Beca paid close attention to the ones she logged, even jotting a few of her own notes so she could recall what was at that particular mark. After they'd sifted through all of them, they ditched all their mess and Beca drank two cups of coffee with a bottle of water in between.

Sara spent the afternoon working on a piece she'd pretty much finished writing, laying down a simple piano track before concentrating on the vocal. Several times during the recording process, Beca had to catch herself. She kept just sitting and staring her mind blowing out at what was happening around her. Luckily, Sara didn't need much tweaking on their side of the desk. As expected, she was nailing her vocals, just going over and over, signaling to loop it back so she could do it again.

"I think maybe we'll get some of the track down before I finish that one," she said eventually. "It's not sounding the same as it does when I hear it in my head. Needs some arrangement behind it." Jason nodded and looked at the clock.

"Five twenty," he said into the mic.

"Let's call it," Sara said. "I have a thing with artwork people. Tomorrow we'll nail out this arrangement first up and then I've got two more solid ones I think we can crank through before we develop the other stuff."

"No prob," Jason said. The studio emptied pretty quickly. Beca hung back and Jason ran through what happened at the end of a recording day.

"Obviously," he said, "Nobody gets to take tape home except Sara. We don't leak it, it doesn't leave the studio, not ever. We run it to backup. We lock the studio. Two of us, every day. And then we leave it all safe and sound here til the morning when you, Mikey or I unlock the door. Anyone else tries it, security captures the card ID and they get their asses nailed to the wall."

"Does that happen often?"

"Not in a very, very long time," Jason said. "Guy tried to take home an unfinished Michael Jackson master, this was before he died, may he rest in peace. His ID got snapped up, and he would have been better off being crucified. Ira, he used to be high level shit around here, Becky, I've never seen anyone blow up so fierce in my life. It was insane."

"Well, I'm going home to start packing my house up," Beca said, "Rest assured nothing's coming home with me."

"About that," Jason said. "You haven't been very clear about what's going on there, and I don't want to pry, Becky. But if there's something wrong, we will help you out."

"It's a guy," Beca said. "I know I keep saying that. But it's a little more than that. He worked with Bree at the UN, got fixated. Started giving her a hard time, started talking a lot of smack about me, like I wasn't real, like she'd made me up to get him off her case."

"So it got serious?"

"He showed up at the house a few times," Beca said. "Made some apparently very specific and detailed threats about removing me from her life. Cops got involved. So even though we haven't done anything wrong, we're moving as fast as possible. Building has high security. So, you know, that pay rise I got when you pulled me from the grad program actually came in handy."

"But what about work?" he said. "Does he know you work here?"

"I don't actually know," Beca said. "But I've been catching taxis instead of the train."

"Alright," he said. "Maybe get his details to security, just in case. Don't want any nasty surprises."

"Yeah, thanks Jason," she said. "I appreciate it."

"Get some rest, Becky," he said. "Go home to your girl, pack some shit, get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning." Beca stuffed her things into her bag and headed out. She called a cab and waited for it to pull up and then called Aubrey to see if she should stop for dinner.

"I was going to order in," she said. "Pasta and salad though, I had a super fattening lunch."

"No, that's fine," Beca said. "I'm just on my way now. I was talking to Jason and I kind of told him what was going on here. He wasn't pushing or anything, he was just concerned. And he asked if Peter knew where I worked, and I realized I didn't know."

"Oh," Aubrey said. "I don't recall specifically telling him you worked at Epic, but I probably told other people. That means he'd be able to find out fairly easily. Jesus Beca, I'm so sorry I didn't even think of that."

"Neither did I," Beca said. "It's okay, Bree. I'll just have to let security know."

"Okay," Aubrey said. "We've got a stack of boxes now. I've done the books and dvds and easy stuff."

"I'll see you soon," Beca said. "Love you." The cab driver wasn't chatty, which suited Beca fine, and he hummed along with an oldies blues station as he drove. She found herself doing the same, which earned her a smile in the mirror.

By the time she got home, dinner had also arrived. Aubrey was wearing running shorts and an old threadbare t-shirt, her hair tied back into a messy knot at the base of her neck. She was serving up the salad and pasta as she walked in. Beca just walked over to her and kissed her. "Hell of a thing to come home to."

"What do you mean?" Aubrey asked, relaxing into Beca's embrace as her arms slid around her waist. "I'm wearing seriously old clothes and no makeup."

"And yet you're still gorgeous," Beca said. She leaned in for another kiss and Aubrey's hands urged her that bit closer.

"I love you," Aubrey said. "Dinner's ready."

"Yeah, just let me get these shoes off," Beca said. She kissed her lightly again and then went into the bedroom, kicking off her shoes and discarding her socks in the laundry hamper.

Aubrey had the dinner waiting at the kitchen counter along with a glass of wine. A lot of the space where they would normally use to eat in the living room was taken up with packing cartons, full cartons taped closed by the wall and flattened, yet-to-be-used cartons covering the coffee table.

"Tell me about your day," Aubrey said. "I wanna hear everything." Beca filled in what her day had been like, Aubrey asking a few questions as she did so. By the time they were done eating, Aubrey was just watching as Beca spoke excitedly, a hand on her knee.

"You're so beautiful, you know that right?" Aubrey interrupted. "You should see you right now. You look so happy and alive." Beca blushed.

"I am," Beca said. Aubrey squeezed her knee gently. "Let me clean up and I'll help you pack some more of those boxes."

"Deal," Aubrey said. "Where do you want to start, kitchen or linen?"

"Linen," Beca said. "And the pictures walls. We still have a few days use out of the kitchen before we're done." She cleaned up quickly and Aubrey assembled more packing cartons like a pro. Then they made quick work of another seven boxes, before Beca declared a shower was necessary. Aubrey's eyes lit up and they made their way into the small cubicle together, hands and mouths sweeping over each other's bodies before they made it back to the bedroom.


	10. Chapter 10

The next few days of Beca's first recording job went smoothly. She'd managed to reign in the openmouthed staring at Sara Bareilles sitting in front of her like a freak, and had focused on the actual work involved. Then she'd lock up the studio and go home to Aubrey, pack some boxes until they were sick of cartons and brown tape, and fall into bed together.

It was now Thursday, and Aubrey had to go in to work as well, so she'd farewelled the blonde with a kiss and they'd caught matching cabs in opposite directions. Beca grabbed her normal morning coffee order and spent a few minutes chatting to Sharelle and Delilah. Turns out Luis was on the verge of getting kicked out of the program. Beca was not surprised. She'd managed to avoid Luis since their confrontation in the coffee shop earlier.

After filling the girls in on how crazy it was to be in a studio and working with Sara Bareilles, she realized she actually did have to go and headed upstairs. Mike was there - she and Mike were always earliest - drinking tea and reading the morning paper. Beca could tell Mike was a creature of habit. She liked the guy. He was the perfect foil to Jason's loud, brash personality. After they'd both finished their morning drinks, they headed into the studio to start up.

They heard Sara before they saw her, and she breezed in to the open studio. Jason was still nowhere to be found, so Sara dropped into his chair and spun to face Beca.

"Beca," Sara said. "I wanna start with the same track we were working on yesterday afternoon."

"No prob I'll cue it up," Beca said.

"Can we listen back to some of the takes of the chorus?" she said. "It was driving me crazy yesterday, something is off with it and I can't figure it out. I hate the hook at the end it sounds nothing like it does in my head. Make sense?"

"To me, yeah," Beca said. It wasn't her track, but she had also felt like something was wrong with the takes they had so far. She brought up the right cues and she and Sara played them back over and over as everyone else showed up. Jason didn't interrupt, he wanted to watch Beca and see how she handled artist interaction on her own. She was doing just fine, in his opinion.

"Do you get what I mean, though?" Sara asked her. "The theremin take is probably the closest but it feels too…"

"Science fiction?" Beca said. Sara nodded. The pen twitched in Beca's hand, the way it sometimes did when she was thinking. She screwed her eyes shut. She was pretty sure she knew what Sara was looking for.

"Becky?" Jason said. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said. "Do you mind if we try something?"

"Like what?" Sara said.

"Can I be blunt?"

"Please do."

"The whole reason we're building this record is because you can sing your ass off," Beca said. "Let's not call it anything else. So why are we using theremins and synth and strings to make a sound I know you can make with your voice?"

"You want me to sing the loop?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "We won't leave it raw though, but the effects won't be so severe people are going to turn around and say you sold out on auto-tune."

"I'm willing to give it a shot," Sara said. "I don't want this hook to kill the entire song, you know? But if I can't get the hook the way I want this song isn't going on the album." She got up and headed into the booth and Beca replayed the track so far through her the headphones, recording the vocal loop over the top. When she motioned to Sara that she wanted her to stop for a second.

"Have you got a vocal stompbox back there?" she said to one of the guys watching. He nodded and went back to retrieve it as Beca relayed what was going on to Sara. The guy brought it and Mike took it into the booth, hooking it up in a flash and Beca got up and headed in.

"Okay," she said to Sara. "Tell me to shut my mouth if I don't know what I'm talking about, I'm the new kid or whatever. But the vocal on it's own already sounds better so… Can you sing it again? Just so I can try something. You can tweak it or whatever if you want to." Sara sang the loop a few times as Beca set the stompbox up, finding the exact effect she wanted.

"Is this okay?" Beca asked.

"Sure," Sara said. "I'm all for ideas, man. Let's try a take, play it back and see where we stand." Beca returned back to her chair at the desk and set it all up to go. She was, truthfully, nervous. But it sounded good in her headphones as they recorded the layer, and she hoped everyone else agreed. When they stopped the tape, Sara ripped her headphones off.

"You!" she said to Beca. "I fucking love you. That's what I heard in my head, exactly. How'd you do that?"

"I have no fucking idea," Beca replied with a relieved laugh. "Acapella magic."

"Play it back, I'm sure it's perfect." They played it back and Sara declared it absolutely, one hundred percent the sound she had been looking for. Beca let out a sigh of relief and stole a look at Jason, who just nodded with a raised eyebrow. Sara was bounding back out of the booth and just about took Beca clean off of her chair in a violent hug.

"Sweet Jesus!" Beca said, grabbing the desk for support.

"Sorry," Sara said. "Might have gotten carried away. But let's throw that loop on what we had yesterday and that track is just about done. Beca, you're a genius and I could kiss you."

"Outstanding," she said with a smirk.

"No seriously, though, if you've got any more tricks like that up your sleeve, don't be shy," Sara said. Jason was compiling the recordings Sara wanted to use for the final track. When he played it, Beca experienced a pronounced feeling of accomplishment. She'd actually contributed something to this track. And it was a good track. Sara declared she needed coffee, so they decided a break was in order. Jason gestured for her to hang back.

"Becky," he said. "Nice work."

"Thanks," Beca said.

"There's more than one reason why Annie wanted you to work with Sara on your first job," he continued. "Yeah, the acapella thing is one. But you're more than just a producer. Me, I sit back here and I can push levels and record and loop and mix but I can't do the shit you just did. I know what a vocal stompbox does but I'd be rightly fucked if someone asked me how to get that noise out of it."

"Serious?"

"A lot of producers," he said, leaning back in his chair, "are just the executors of the artists vision. But you've got the vision and the execution. We both saw it in your demos. This is your first record. But it's the first in a long fucking line, Beca."

Beca registered the seriousness of the tone in his voice when he called her Beca instead of Becky.

"Thanks, Jason," she said.

"So when Sara says she wants you to be forthcoming with your ideas," he said, "she means it. I'm not saying every single one of your ideas is gonna make it onto this record. And she's gonna be pretty frank about it if she's not into it. But Sara's good for this shit."

"Alright," Beca said. "Awesome. I uh, might have a couple more in that case." He laughed.

"Of course you do," he said. "Coffee first, musical brilliance second." Beca got up to get her caffeine fix. Instead of hanging around and making smalltalk, she went back to the desk and pulled a notepad out. She hadn't been lying when she said she had ideas. She'd been waking up at night with bits of Sara's tracks running through her head she wanted to try and recall some of the crap she'd thought in those bizarre midnight moments.

After they'd put in a solid day of recording, they were packing up ready to go home. Jason was shutting down the desks and Mike was powering off the other equipment. Beca was stuffing a few of her things into her bag.

"Hey Beca." She was startled out of her thoughts by Sara.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Good shit today," she said. "Do you have plans tonight?"

"Not unless you count packing up my house with my girlfriend," she said. "We're moving on Saturday."

"If you guys feel like having a night off," she continued, "you should come have dinner with us. We're just going to be eating our body weight in pasta at Vorace."

"Yeah, sure," Beca said. "I'm sure we can swing one night off, we've been packing nonstop."

"Awesome," Sara said. "Eight o'clock?"

"Yeah, see you there," Beca said. She grabbed her stuff and headed downstairs, sliding into the cab that security now had waiting for her every afternoon. She pulled her cell out and called Aubrey.

"Hey," she said. "Almost home?"

"Yeah," Aubrey said. "How was your day?"

"Really good actually," Beca said. "I actually helped Sara out with part of her song today and she's keeping the stuff I did on the album."

"Seriously?" Aubrey said. "Well, I'm not surprised, you are ridiculously talented and gorgeous."

"Gorgeous?" Beca said. "She wants my help on her album because she's gorgeous?"

"Everyone needs some eye candy," Aubrey joked. "As long as she remembers that the candy isn't hers."

"Anyway," Beca said, "I know we've been packing and stuff but how would you feel about skipping a night? Sara wants us to go out with her and some of the others for dinner." There was a thunk, a scuffling sound and then a few more random noises.

"Sorry, dropped the phone," Aubrey said. "Just a little surprised because it sounded like you just said that Sara Bareilles wants us to meet her for dinner."

"You're a dork, Bree," Beca said. "She did say that. Vorace at eight o'clock."

"Are you messing with me right now, Beca?!" Aubrey said.

"Why would I do that?" Beca said. "I'm being serious. So yeah, are you okay with skipping the box-and-tape-athon for a night?"

"Hell yes," she said. "Should I be nervous?"

"Nope," Beca said. "She's super chill."

"Okay," Aubrey said. "I'm going to get in the shower as soon as I get home."

"Alright I'll see you soon," Beca said. She hung up and tugged a notebook out of her bag, jotting a few more random ideas inside on the trip back to their apartment. Aubrey was just getting out of the shower as she got home, and Beca took a few moments to kiss her naked girlfriend and then some. She was running her hand up the curve of Aubrey's hip as her lips busied themselves on the blonde's own, when Aubrey stilled it.

"As much as I really like where that is headed," Aubrey murmured, "You need to take a shower. It's already half past six and traffic will be a bitch getting back across the city." Beca's hand stopped, but her lips moved again, and she tugged on Aubrey's lower lip with her teeth.

"Okay," she said. "Let's come back to this later. I just think you're really sexy, you know that right?" Aubrey rolled her eyes at Beca's cheesiness, but a smile spread across her face.

"I love you," she said to Beca. "Now go shower." Beca obediently went and got into the shower. By the time she was done, Aubrey was stepping into a simple dress. She'd already done her hair and makeup, and Beca just stared at her for a minute. Even after the years they'd been together she still considered herself amazingly lucky to have someone like Aubrey. But she shook herself out of her little daydream and pulled some underwear on. She dug through the closet and pulled out a grey blazer and some black jeans. Aubrey tossed a striped, loose tank onto the bed as she watched Beca do her makeup.

"Tell me more about your day," Aubrey said as Beca moved on to her hair. Beca was glad to fill her in as she continued to get ready. As she was finishing up, Aubrey called for a cab to take them back across town to Vorace. But her eyes tracked the brunette as she did so.

"Couple of minutes," Aubrey said. "And let me just take one of those minutes to let you know how hot you look right now."

"Oh really," Beca said, tangling their fingers together. Aubrey's arm wrapped around her waist.

"Yep," Aubrey said. "You're an incredibly beautiful woman, Beca Mitchell." Beca hadn't always been comfortable hearing those sorts of platitudes, but with Aubrey it felt completely different. She kissed her lightly, not wanting to smudge the blonde's perfectly made up lips.

"Let's go wait downstairs," she said. They went and waited for the cab and sat close together on the backseat during the ride. They got there just a few minutes before eight and Beca was about to give her name to the maître d when she realized she hadn't even made the booking, and she had no idea whose name it would be under.

"Beca!" a voice came. It was Jeremy, a guy who was playing some strings on the record. He beckoned them over and they were shown to a large table near the back of the restaurant. Beca recognized everybody at the table except for two, she assumed they were partners of some of the others.

"Hey," Sara said. "Glad you ladies could make it. And you must be Aubrey. Nice to meet you." She hugged Aubrey quickly.

"You too," Aubrey said. "I've enjoyed hearing the stories Beca tells of life in the studio."

"Did she tell you she read my mind like a kickass ninja earlier today and helped me fix a track I couldn't get right?" Sara said. "She knows her shit." Everyone else around the table introduced themselves to Aubrey.

"And what do you do, Aubrey?" one of the others asked.

"I work in law and policy at the UN," Aubrey said. They fell into easy chatter as wine was brought out and food ordered. Beca let her hand rest on Aubrey's knee as the night went on, the blonde interlacing their fingers. She was still an insufferable introvert and even though she was happy to come out and socialize for work, because let's be real nobody would turn down dinner with Sara Bareilles, it was going to be ten times easier with Aubrey sitting next to her.

Dinner was long and enjoyable. The table had downed a few bottles of wine, not nearly enough that they were drunk, but they had definitely had a good time. Sara picked up the check and they all went their separate ways. Jeremy and Miguel stayed with the two of them as they waited for their taxi. Miguel had gone to Columbia as well, so he and Aubrey had a little to talk about. Jeremy held the door for the two of them and told Beca he'd see her the next day.

During the cab ride back, Aubrey commented how proud she was of Beca, being able to achieve so much so quickly, and also at how lovely they all had been. Beca replied that she was sure not everyone in music was going to be as nice as Sara and her musicians were and that she was lucky to have Annie and Jason coaching her through it.

Once they got home, Aubrey seemed fairly keen on finishing off what they'd started that afternoon. But she wanted to take things torturously slow, there was forty solid minutes of making out on the bed before she even began removing Beca's clothes. She wasn't complaining, though, kissing Aubrey was right near the absolute top of her favorite things to do. And Aubrey was feeling a little toppy right now, so Beca was happy to roll with it. The tank and blazer were wrestled off of her, and her bra was quick to follow.

But now she was tugging Beca's jeans and underwear down and her hands were soft on Beca's skin and she was just in a ridiculous amount of need. The jeans came off and Aubrey was stepping out of her dress, so Beca just let her eyes rake over her toned body. Aubrey watched her for a second, an eyebrow arched.

"What?" Beca said.

"Appreciating the sight," Aubrey said. "And also deciding whether to take my underwear off now or -"

"Get it off now and get over here," Beca said. Aubrey smiled and removed the lacy garments slowly, Beca glued to every movement and every suggestive sway of her hips as she walked back toward the bed.


	11. Chapter 11

Monday morning arrived and Beca was sore. They'd moved into their new apartment over the weekend, and the two of them had spent the entire time moving furniture, unpacking and cleaning. The new place was gorgeous, though, and Aubrey had commented that she didn't see them moving anywhere for a long time. They had met all three doormen at this point, and were impressed with how seriously they took the security of the building. They had also met their neighbors across the hall - a pair of financial advisors in their thirties, and a pair of sisters who lived two floors down. All reports indicated that the building was quiet and a good place to live. Aubrey had enquired in a roundabout way if people regularly managed to subvert all of the security and was told by the financial advisors that in eight years it had happened precisely twice, and both tenants responsible no longer lived there.

So Beca was definitely sore, but she was happy. Because she had noticed that Aubrey hadn't slept much while they were waiting to move. She hadn't either, but she often spent nights awake working on mixes and was far more accustomed to it. Aubrey showed the strain a little more. But the last couple of nights the blonde had slept soundly.

She was dumping her two empty coffee cups into the bin and contemplating if a third would just be too ridiculous when Jason walked in.

"You look angry, firecracker," he said.

"Not angry, sore," she corrected. "Moving."

"Ah, yes. All settled in?"

"Pretty much, but my body hates me today," Beca said. "My shoulders and lower back."

"You should hit Mike up," Jason said. "He's the fittest guy I've ever met. Runs marathons, does yoga and Pilates daily. He probably knows some stretch to help that out." Beca nodded and decided against the third coffee, instead reaching for a bottle of water, bringing it with her into the studio for another day of mixing.

They were making great progress with the album. Sara estimated that she probably had around nineteen songs she wanted to record, and then she'd cut it down to twelve or thirteen. Beca had thrown a few more ideas into the mix, some she kept and some she didn't. But it seemed to be going well, in Beca's opinion. They were laying some background vocals for one of the tracks currently. Upon hearing the playback, Beca felt like the drum parts might be off for the song, and she called out to Sara.

"Is it just me or are those drums just not working?" Beca said. "They were okay before the BVs went in. But now the vocal makes them seem clunky, but the vocals all fit together really well."

"Yeah, maybe," Sara said. "You got something for me?"

"Of course I do," Beca said with a smile. She relayed the plan and quickly demonstrated the kind of sound she was going for to Sara. The singer liked it a lot and she and Beca got lost in a discussion about effect levels. Jason called a lunch break, but the two women were still deep into it. Everyone else just filed out and left them to it.

They joined the team eventually, who were just deciding that they might actually leave the studio for lunch. They settled on walking to the dumpling bar down the street, and collected their stuff so they could leave. They were about a block away when Beca's phone began to ring. Seeing it was Aubrey, she dropped back a little bit to answer it without all of the noise around her.

"Hey," Beca said.

"Hey," Aubrey said. "Just thought I'd check in and see how you were doing."

"Sore, but fine," Beca said. "We're heading out for lunch. What about you?"

"Sore, but fine," Aubrey agreed. "Actually, one of my supervisors stopped by to tell me that he really liked the work I did researching that child labor stuff."

"That's awesome," Beca said. "Not surprised, because you're incredible."

"That I am," Aubrey said modestly. "Anyway, I was thinking since we worked our asses off over the weekend we should let ourselves have a night off from unpacking stuff tonight."

"I am so down with that," Beca said. "Want me to-" Her sentence was cut short when she felt herself being shoved into the brick veneer of a building. Her face collided with the hard surface and she felt the warm spray of blood coating the bottom half of her face. She dropped her phone, dazed, and before she could touch her face to see what had happened she felt a squeeze around her neck and her head slammed back into the wall.

"Wh-" she couldn't even scream. But she was hurting and someone was yelling and things were starting to get cloudy. She tried to kick, flail, something, but she couldn't get any air into her lungs. She forced her eyes open and realized that she recognized the face right before she lost consciousness.

The first face she saw when she regained consciousness was Jeremy, then Jason, though she could only see out of one eye. As her vision cleared a little she realized there was a whole host of faces surrounding her with looks of concern. She tried to sit up, and was firmly pushed back down.

"Don't get up, don't speak," Jason said. "You took a couple of really big hits there, firecracker, and you were unconscious. Paramedic is on the way." She gestured that she wanted to know what happened.

"Some guy grabbed you, threw you against the wall and started screaming at you," Jeremy said calmly. Beca found his tone oddly comforting. "Over and over, screaming 'Where did you take her? Where is she?', and when you didn't respond he hit you. Then Mike realized you'd fallen behind. A couple of kids were trying to pull him off you, but Mike stepped in and yeah, he's pretty much got the guy contained."

"Beca," Jason said, drawing her attention with the use of her actual name. "His ID says his name is Peter Cameron. Is this him? Is this the guy?" Beca's head was swirling but she managed to recall that, yes, his was the face she'd seen right before she blacked out. She nodded weakly.

"Yeah," she rasped, before clutching her throat with her hand. Even the single syllable hurt like fire. She mouthed that she wanted her phone.

"One of the girls has your phone," Jeremy continued in a calm voice. "Melanie, I think. She spoke to Aubrey and we'll call her as soon as we find out where the paramedics are taking you." The paramedics were just rolling up. A stranger was explaining to a beat cop what had just happened, and as the paramedics fastened a c-collar around her neck - precautionary, they insisted - and helped Beca into an upright position, she saw that Peter was now handcuffed and looking at Mike standing next to him with a terrified expression. People were beginning to gather and she ducked her head. The paramedics began directing people to back off, and soon it was just Beca being examined in the back of a vehicle. Jeremy was waiting with her things, including her phone and the group had all expressed their concern for her before they moved on at the instruction of the paramedics and cops. Jason had headed back to the office to fill Annie in, and now the paramedics were telling Beca they were going to have to take her to City ER.

"It's okay," she heard Jeremy say. "I'll call Aubrey back and tell her to meet you there." She nodded.

"You want him to ride with us?" one of the uniformed people asked. She nodded, hoping Jeremy wouldn't think it was weird, but hesaid it would be fine. She was grateful; she didn't want to be alone. The other uniformed paramedic was talking as they loaded her into the transport unit.

"Okay, we're taking you to City ER for a couple reasons," he said. "One is the extremely likely possibility that you've got broken bones in your face. Cheekbone, nose and eye socket are pretty sure, jaw is a maybe. Two is the fact that you were unconscious and from all reports you got your head slammed into that wall twice, so they're going to want to monitor you for that. Three is that we want an ENT to check out your neck and vocal cords, which is what the C-collar is about. But you're going to be just fine, okay?" Beca nodded, but she was in a lot of pain. The other paramedic was following up with the cops, and then all of a sudden they were moving again.

At the hospital, her face was poked and prodded and she was sent off to X-Ray. All she wanted was some drugs and some sleep, but until they ruled out serious head injury, Jeremy was tasked with keeping her awake. The easiest method to ensure that had been to send the cops in, and she scribbled answers to questions they asked on paper. Yes, she knew Peter Cameron. He was stalking her girlfriend. They'd moved. Obviously he wasn't taking it well. She gave them the card from the other police officers she'd had in her wallet and they left their details, promising to keep her updated.

Aubrey arrived just as the doctor was about to inform Beca of the extent of her injuries, immediately dissolving into tears upon seeing how Beca looked. Beca finally began crying herself, and the doctor and Jeremy both let them have a few minutes. Aubrey was sobbing apologies into her shoulder and Beca was helplessly trying to comfort her without using any words.

"Have you even seen what you look like?" Aubrey asked. Beca shook her head and Aubrey pulled her phone out and switched the front facing camera on. Beca's jaw dropped, which sent a bolt of pain radiating through her lower face. The right side of her face was black and purple, swollen and bloody. She had a very impressive shiner, and her eye was swollen closed.

"I'm sorry," Aubrey said, crying again. "Beca this is all my fault." Beca tugged on her hands and shook her head firmly. The doctor entered.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said. "Now, Beca's injuries. The black eye complements her zygomatic orbital fractures - that's her eye socket in two places and her cheekbone, plus her broken nose. The good news is that it won't need surgical repair, and that the jaw isn't fractured that we could tell." Beca gestured to the C-collar.

"Yes, we can take it off," he said. "No spinal injuries, just plenty of swelling and a severe ligature mark. It's going to hurt to swallow for a couple of days and your voice might be raspy for up to a few weeks."

"So can I take her home?" Aubrey asked. The doctor shook his head sympathetically.

"Unfortunately no," he said. "Beca's head was slammed into a brick wall twice. Pretty hard. And whilst there are no fractures in her skull, we couldn't conclusively rule out soft tissue swelling. She was also unconscious for more than three minutes. We're admitting her for 48 hour neuro observation. They're preparing a bed now." Aubrey looked petrified.

"It's precautionary," the doctor said. "We didn't explicitly see any swelling, but we want to watch her anyway."

"Okay," Aubrey said. "Can I stay with her?"

"Until 10pm, you can stay on the ward," the doctor said. "After that it's patients only, until 7am. I'll check on that bed." He left them alone.

"It's okay," Aubrey said. "I'll stay with you til they kick me out. And I'll be back at seven. Work are fine with me being here." Beca just nodded and pulled her close. The blonde slid her arms around her and held her close. The door opened and Jeremy came inside.

"Didn't mean to intrude," he said. "Just wanted to check how she's doing."

"She's being admitted for a couple of days so they can monitor the head injury," Aubrey said. "The rest is all fairly straightforward, broken cheekbone, nose, eyesocket…"

"It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen," Jeremy said. "She was walking with us and then she was up against the wall. The girls were freaking. Then Mike just walks up. These two young dudes are trying to pull the guy off of her, and they can't move him, but Mike just grabs him, does some weird ass karate shit, and then the guy's on the ground."

"Mike the studio tech?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah, and he just stared at the dude, like he was daring him to move," Jeremy said. "Everyone's been texting for an update. But if you're being admitted, I might head back to the studio, if that's alright with you." Beca motioned for a pen, and Aubrey dug one out of her bag.

_Tell Jason and Sara I'm sorry._

Jeremy shook his head. "You're fine, kiddo. You just take care of yourself, and we'll see you when you're feeling up to it." Beca nodded and added one more line.

_Thank you for staying._

"That's my pleasure," Jeremy said. "If you guys need anything, just call. I hope you don't mind that I put my number in your phone. It's here in your bag."

"Thank you," Aubrey said. "For making sure she wasn't alone." He nodded and left them alone. An orderly arrived to take them up to observation. They settled for a wheelchair, and Aubrey followed closely behind. A nurse greeted them and settled Beca in, a doctor hot on her heels. The doctor performed a quick test on her vision and her memory and told her to get comfortable.

"All looks pretty good from here," he said. "The nurse will bring something for her pain now. Sorry it's been so long." Beca was almost used to the throbbing side of her face, but when the nurse came and administered the pain relief, she began to get drowsy almost straight away. Once Aubrey was sure she was asleep, she ducked out into the hall and started making calls.

She started with Beca's dad, who was understandably upset. Then her own dad, then she called Epic to speak with Annalise. The woman relayed that the whole team had called it quits for the day, not able to focus on much music after what had happened. She also mentioned that Beca was to stay off work until she was medically cleared to come back and not a second before. Aubrey assured her she would make sure Beca got plenty of rest.

"When she does come back," Annalise said, "We'll talk about safe work travel options. Beca might not have been here long, but she's part of the Epic family."

"I really appreciate that, Annalise. This whole thing just makes me feel ill," Aubrey said.

"I imagine it would," she said. "Take care of her and tell her to give me a call when she's up to it."

"Will do," Aubrey promised. She disconnected and then pulled out the card Beca had given her that belonged to the cops who had been to take her statement. They weren't able to say much. Peter was locked up, his bail hearing would likely be in two days. The officer did say that the charges would increase once they collaborated files with the previous officers they'd spoken to.

"Should I be hiring our own lawyer for this?" Aubrey asked.

"Well, he's being prosecuted by the state," the officer said. "And the prosecutor in our district is actually really good. But if you want to hire one for your own peace of mind and have them present, that's not a problem."

"Okay," she said. "Thank you." The officer promised to call the next day, and Aubrey went back inside. She sat in the chair next to Beca, amazed that the two sides of her face looked completely different. She knew Beca would tell her she was being an idiot, but she still felt incredibly guilty about it all. Beca was copping the brunt of Peter's anger and there was no reason why she should. But looking at Beca, beaten til she was purple and choked til she passed out - she hated the fact that she was truly scared now. She'd lived in New York for a couple of years and she'd never been afraid of the city, of the people and now she was. Well, on person, anyway.

She ducked out of Beca's room and went in search of coffee. She called Cynthia Rose, who declared she was coming up to cut a bitch. Aubrey had calmed her down, but asked that if she could come up and see Beca again soon, it'd probably make her feel better, and Natalie was more than welcome to come as well. Cythnia Rose said they'd be there Friday night.

Then she called Chloe. She'd left her til last, because she knew that the second she heard the redhead's voice she'd start crying again. And Chloe was the best person for these sorts of situations, she'd let her cry, calm her down, then distract her by telling stories about med school and people she knew. The crying portion was significantly longer than normal today, but Chloe remained patient throughout her tears. She hung up feeling a little better, and found the coffee she was looking for. Then she headed back to sit by Beca's bedside until she woke again.

It was only another hour or so before a different doctor came in and woke her, a resident this time, explaining that they had to test her vision and neurological responses on a regular basis. Beca was grumpy at being woken, but complied, and then she motioned to Aubrey for a pen. The blonde dug it out and passed her a notebook.

_Doc my throat feels like a desert. Water ok?_

He smiled and said ice chips would be better, but promised to send some in. Beca scribbled again and nudged Aubrey.

_You just gonna sit here and watch me for two days?_

"Of course I am," Aubrey said. "You really don't think I'm going to leave you alone, do you?" Beca smiled, and pulled her in for a kiss, mouthing that she loved her.

_Can you call Epic?_

"I already did," Aubrey said. "Annalise was adamant that you take off as much time as you need before you go back."

_It sucks I was having a blast in studio._

"I know," Aubrey soothed. "But there'll be more. And Cynthia Rose is coming up to spend the weekend." Beca's eyes lit up.

"I knew that'd make you feel a little better," she continued. "Just like when you got Chloe for me." Beca nodded, but she was starting to drift off again. She reached out for Aubrey's hand and squeezed it before she fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

The doctors made Beca stay the full two days. She could speak a little, not much more than a whisper. Trying to make any louder noise just made her throat burn all over again. But they released her and let her go home, with follow up appointments to have her throat looked at and a vision and neuro test in a week.

The police had been back to see them just before she left to go home. Peter was being held without bail, pleading not guilty. Aubrey was worried that he would try to use an insanity defense, but the police were informing her that he wasn't employing such a tactic - instead choosing to say that Beca had provoked him. Not a single person believed that defense was going to be successful. Aubrey asked that they keep in touch, which they steadfastly promised.

Aubrey's bosses had let her take a few days off to make sure Beca was okay. They were being extremely accommodating which they both appreciated. She was being heavily medicated - again - for the facial fractures. So for her first few days of recuperation she was in a daze of sleep and pain and discomfort. Aubrey couldn't do much, apart from dole out pills and feed her when she was lucid enough. People had sent flowers and called to check up on her. Aubrey had spoken with Annie twice, Jason once and had fielded a phone call and some flowers from Sara. Sharelle, Delilah and the others from the grad program had also sent some flowers, and Mike had called as well. Beca had missed just about every call except one of Annie's, during which she promised she would stay off work for a while longer.

Cynthia Rose and Natalie arrived Friday afternoon. Beca was feeling much less foggy, and after a hot shower and some food was actually feeling somewhat human. The two visitors had showed an appropriate level of rage at Beca's injuries for a few moments, but then they chose not to draw any more attention to it. Beca wasn't exactly up to going out, but she was glad her best friend was there.

The four of them ordered in and just caught up, talking late into the night. Cynthia Rose was still working at the radio station and Natalie was still teaching, so there were plenty of stories to go around that didn't involve Beca and Peter and him stalking Aubrey.

The next morning, Beca slept late - a side effect of the pills - and Natalie woke early. She had a sketchbook with her and sat out on the balcony etching out a likeness of the surrounding New York neighborhood. Aubrey found her, bringing much appreciated coffee.

"Morning," Aubrey said. She handed her a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," Natalie said. "Thanks. How'd Beca sleep?"

"It's a bit rough, she can only sleep on her uninjured side and she's just not comfortable," Aubrey said. "She ends up shifting in her sleep and waking up in pain."

"It looks pretty bad," Natalie said. "Cynthia Rose was so worried about her. What's going on with that guy? He's not out is he?"

"No, bail has been refused," Aubrey said. "The lawyer handling the case says he's appealing that. But we're safe here. The guys who work on the door are really professional and they're not even telling people we live here."

"That's good," Natalie said. "What about you, though?"

"I just feel bad that this is happening," Aubrey said. "It had nothing to do with Beca and she's the one getting hurt. She was just walking down the street on her way to get some lunch, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"What about you guys?" Aubrey asked. "How are you two doing?"

"Really great," Natalie said. "I love her. Not saying I was a skank or anything before but I've been in a lot of relationships and always felt like something was off. But with Cynth it's all there."

"That's good," Aubrey said.

"I'm just bummed that she can't find something more challenging in terms of work," Natalie said. "I told her that if she wants to move to find something better, something she deserves, she should. There's a billion teaching jobs out there, I can move."

"I wonder if she's considered the same sort of thing Beca did," Aubrey mused. "I know that Beca was headhunted for her grad program spot, but I'm sure they take applicants. And she'd be perfect for something like that."

"Do you think?" Natalie asked.

"Maybe suggest it to her," Aubrey said. "It'd have to be next academic year now, but the work she's doing at the radio station would only be helpful. Like she took a year to get some experience before she headed back into academics."

"That's a great idea," Natalie said. "What are the plans for the day?"

"Uh, well Beca doesn't like to go out much at the moment," Aubrey said. "She doesn't like people staring at her face and stuff. But you and CR should totally go and explore. We can give you a whole heap of fun things to do."

"I did want to try and fit in some shopping," Natalie said as they balcony door opened. "No point coming to New York and not breaking out the credit card."

"Shopping?" Cynthia Rose said apprehensively.

"Well, why don't we go shopping?" Aubrey said to Natalie. "Not all day, but yeah, we should go and the girls can stay here together."

"She still sleeping?" Cynthia Rose asked, swiping Natalie's mug and taking a drink.

"Yeah," Aubrey said. "She took some painkillers at about four thirty so she could be out for another hour yet."

"Are you okay if Aubrey and I bail and do some shopping?" Natalie asked.

"Absolutely," Cynthia Rose said. "I'm less of a shopper and more a… I don't know, but I'm happy to stay behind and wait for Beca and kick it here."

"We'll call you guys later and bring something home for lunch," Aubrey said. "But just so you know, Beca's still really hoarse in the mornings so she won't talk much."

"Nah, that's cool," Cynthia Rose said. "We don't need to talk much." It didn't take long for Natalie and Aubrey to get themselves organized to leave. Aubrey left a note on the pillow next to Beca so she knew where she'd gone, smoothing some hair out of her face and kissing her forehead before she left.

Beca woke about an hour later after she rolled in her sleep and put too much pressure on the bruised side of her face. Her eye and cheekbone were throbbing as she woke and sat up. She sighed, not wanting to become reliant on painkillers but knowing that they had been prescribed for a reason. The doctor had said she could feel some significant pain for up to two weeks. She grabbed the bottle of the non drowsy pills from her nightstand and took two with the now slightly warm water sitting next to it. Then she cleared her throat, wincing at the burn that always followed, and spotted the note on Aubrey's pillow.

_Natalie & I went out shopping. CR is still home. We'll bring lunch. Text me when you wake up. Love you xx_

She smiled at the note. She quickly washed up in the master bath and headed out to the living room. Cynthia Rose was eating cereal and listening to music on the couch.

"Hey B," she said. "How's your voice this morning? Bree said it might still hurt." Beca held out her hand and shook it a little to indicate it was a bit sore. Cynthia Rose just nodded.

"It's all good," she said. "We don't really need to be talking. Do you want some coffee?" Beca shook her head. She pulled the juice from the fridge and poured a glass. By the time she finished it, she was able to whisper hoarsely again.

"Less milky shit, more clear fluids," she clarified. "How long ago did the girls leave?"

"Hour, hour and a half," Cynthia Rose estimated. "Nat really wanted to get some shopping in and Aubrey knew neither of us would be interested in that. So they went and did the girly thing and left us here."

"Okay," Beca said. "Is there anything you wanted to do?"

"Nah, I just came to hang out with you," the other girl responded. "Hang out and make sure you were alright." Beca smiled.

"I appreciate you guys coming all this way," Beca said. "It's good to have you here."

"So are you okay, Beca?" Cynthia Rose asked in a much more serious tone. Beca shifted a little.

"It still seems so… Like, I know it happened but I just don't get it. It feels unreal to me," she said. "It's not something that you even think about as happening, but it has. And I'm in pain, sure, but for some reason, I'm angry as well? Not at Bree, but angry that this random guy has fucked up a truly good thing. I love New York. Work is amazing. This feels like a place Bree and I can really build a future together. And Peter's just walked in and fucked with it because he feels like he's entitled to it."

"It's scary," Cynthia Rose said.

"And now I'm looking back and wondering if I should have been more cautious," Beca said. "Because what if I had been on my own that day? It was pure chance that we all decided to eat out together. Half the time I'm just ducking across to grab something on my own."

"But Aubrey says he's been refused bail," Cynthia Rose said.

"Yeah," Beca said. She sighed. "I think I'm okay. At least I will be if he stays locked up. And Bree spoke to Annie and they're happy to do whatever it takes to make sure I'm safe all the time at work."

"That's good," Cynthia Rose replied. "Sucks that this happened right in the middle of your first real record though, man."

"Tell me about it," Beca agreed. "I'm hoping I get back in time to finish it up. They want me to stay off for at least one more full week."

"Well they are doctors, they know their shit," her friend said. "But I know you and you'll need to be physically restrained." Beca just grinned.

"Pretty much," Beca said. They lapsed into silence, speaking occasionally but just being happy hanging out together. It felt like old times, injuries aside. Before she knew it, Beca's phone was vibrating with a text from Aubrey.

_Lunch? What do you girls feel like?_

"Hey, the girls are about ready to head back," Beca said. "What do you feel like eating?"

"There some good pizza nearby?" Beca nodded.

_Pizza?_

_Sure. Be home soon. Love you._

"What are you smiling at?" Cynthia Rose asked.

"Just Bree," she said with a shrug. "She makes me happy, you know? Nothing specific."

"I know," Cynthia Rose said. "It's a good feeling. Hey, I haven't even told you yet, but Natalie asked me to move into her place."

"Seriously?" Beca said.

"Yeah," Cynthia Rose said. "It made sense, we were together every night anyway and her place is bigger than ours was. I moved in last week."

"That's awesome, CR," Beca said. "I'm glad you two are happy. The girls will be home soon, so I'm gonna take a shower."

"No sweat," Cynthia Rose said.

Beca was just pulling a shirt on when she heard Aubrey and Natalie get back. She hurried out and kissed Aubrey on the cheek.

"How are you feeling?" Aubrey asked.

"I rolled over onto my face again," Beca said. "Woke me up about an hour and a half after you left. But after I took some pills it's been fine. Took a shower. Throat doesn't hurt so much, probably the steam."

"That's good," Aubrey said.

"You have a good morning?" Beca asked. Aubrey pointed to the bags.

"Sure did," she said. "I might have got you a couple things. There was a massive sale at H&M. We can show and tell later, don't want the pizza to get cold." Beca stopped her by pulling her back for another kiss.

"What's that for?" Aubrey asked.

"Just because I love you," Beca said. "And I like it when you leave me cute notes."

They didn't leave the apartment again while the girls were visiting, choosing to stay in. It turned out Natalie was a pretty decent cook and she rustled up some good food for the four of them. Aubrey was just happy that Beca seemed to be coping well. She liked watching her girlfriend interact with Cynthia Rose. Their friendship was kind of adorable, though she knew Beca would kill her for thinking that. But they had each other's backs, without question.

All too soon Monday rolled around. Their guests had departed the previous night and Aubrey got up with her alarm to go back to work. Beca woke a little grumpy, but got up as well, knowing she had to get into a regular routine. She booked an appointment for her follow up exam at the hospital the next day and did a little housework, choosing to take a nap in the afternoon.

Tuesday morning Aubrey brought her coffee in bed right before she left for work. Her appointment was made for late morning, so she got up and took a shower. As she was eating breakfast she decided that she'd swing past Epic afterwards - not to work, just to pop in and reassure everyone that she was okay. She called Aubrey from the taxi to see how her morning was going and to let her know she'd stop off and do a little grocery shopping on the way home. Aubrey sounded concerned at first, but with a reminder that Peter was securely locked up and a promise that if she was tired she'd go straight home, she relented.

Beca made her way to the hospital and settled into the waiting area designated to her by the nurse. She heard her name being called out by the doctor and followed the man into the examination room. "You look a lot better than the last time I saw you."

"I daresay I feel better too, doc," she said. The doctor started by asking her to commit five things to memory that he wanted her to remember at the end of the appointment. He had a quick look at her face, gently touching the bruised areas. Then he moved on to her neck, fingertips softly touching the mark left behind.

"How's the voice?" he asked.

"Raspy but okay. Bit sorer in the morning, but still good, considering." He grabbed a light and had a look inside her throat.

"It looks like it's healing up just fine," he said. "Still not going to be back to what you're used to for a while yet, though." He checked her vision next. Apart from the swelling around her bruised eye it was normal, which the doctor seemed to be pleased with. She was able to repeat the five things he'd asked her to remember as well.

"How would you say your memory is?" he asked.

"It was foggy as shit the first couple of days, but I think that was more the painkillers I was on than anything else," she said. "It seems fine to me."

"And how many of the heavy duty painkillers are you taking these days?"

"Just one," Beca said. "Normally it's the middle of the night after I've inadvertently rolled over and put a whole bunch of pressure on my face. I don't like being that medicated though, so I weaned myself off pretty quick. Still taking the other ones maybe twice a day? Just one at a time."

"That's quick," he said. "You're not in pain that much?"

"It was the same when I broke my wrist," Beca said. "I just prefer not to be cloudy. Distract myself. Look, any chance I can go back to work soon?"

"In a week," he said. "You need the rest. I know you say you're doing fine and your exam is good, but sometimes head injuries can sneak up on you. The rest will only make you better."

"If you say a week, it's a week," Beca said.

"You're not in a strenuous field, though?"

"I produce music," Beca said. "Lots of sitting. Lots."

"Good," he said with a smile. "So you definitely can go back to work next week but take it easy. If you get a headache in the afternoon, don't push yourself. You've come a long way in a short while, we don't want to undo that progress."

"You got it," Beca said. "Thanks." He wrote a few things in her chart and handed her a letter of fitness dated the following Monday. Beca left with a wave and hailed a taxi, giving the driver the address for Epic. She called Aubrey on the way and passed on the good news, then added she was still dropping past work to see Annie. When she got to Epic, it was just a little before lunch so she figured everyone would be in session or upstairs recording. She waved her ID at the unfamiliar new face at the desk and headed to Annie's office. She made small talk with Georgie and asked if Annie had a minute, to which the receptionist responded she should just go in.

"Hey," Beca said. The older woman's eyes snapped up.

"Oh god, don't tell me you want to come back to work already," Annalise said, though she was smiling. "Get in here."

"No, next week is the earliest according the doc," Beca said. "Just finished up there and wanted to check in with you guys. Plus I've gotta drop this form off, says I can come back next week."

"How's the face healing up?" Annie asked.

"Hurts less, but the bruises are at that really fucking gross yellowy green stage," Beca said. "Throat's still a bit fucked yet. Not allowed to sing or scream or anything. Talking's fine but after a while it burns."

"And what about the legal side?" Annie said.

"Bail was denied, he appealed, denied again," Beca said. "Prosecutor went to town on him. I wasn't there, we have a lawyer going on our behalf until absolutely necessary. Dude said that after the prosecutor was done half the courtroom was eyeballing Peter like he was literal dog shit and it was full of lawyers and cops."

"That's good to hear," Annie said. "Since you're here, I had a chat with security. We're gonna have a car drop you off of an evening."

"Dude, I can cab it, it's fine," Beca said. "He's in prison, Annie."

"Okay," she said. "But if he gets off for some godforsaken reason I'm-"

"You can supply me with a bodyguard if it'll please you," Beca agreed. "The deal I have with Aubrey is that as long as I'm taking medication that knocks me the fuck out, I take a taxi."

"Deal," Annie said. "But if you feel too tired of an afternoon, don't push yourself. You don't have to burn yourself out. Shit's intense."

"Yeah it is," Beca said. "But I feel okay. Aubrey's been amazing, her bosses let her take all of last week off to take care of me, and if I need her she can pretty much drop what she's doing. Plus had a visit from my college roommate and best friend over the weekend. I'm in a pretty good headspace, considering."

"That's really nice to hear, Beca," Annie said sincerely. "Don't forget if it gets out of hand, your medical covers therapy."

"Good to know, but I'm pretty confident I'm fine," Beca said.

"The guys have asked about you," she said. "Wanna drop by and say hi?"

"Hell yeah," Beca said. She and Annie made their way to the studio level. The recording light was on, so they sat in the room across the hall until it went off. Annie knocked on the door first.

"Brought a visitor," she said, holding it open. Beca strode in.

"Hey, firecracker," Jason said warmly. "Good to see you." The sentiment was shared by everyone else in the studio. Sara came out and hugged her, so did Jeremy.

"Man, it's good to see you," he said. "We've been hounding Annie every other day trying to find out when you'd be back."

"I'll be back next week," Beca said. "See how I go, maybe can it early if it wipes me out."

"Voice is still patchy," Sara observed. "It's not permanent is it?"

"No," Beca assured her. "But it could be a while before I get my vocal range back. And I'm not allowed to sing at all yet. How are you guys going with the album?"

"There's a couple things I'm hoping you might have ideas on," Sara said. "But it can wait til you get back."

"How'd you go with that piano track?" Beca said. "The one we were working on that day?"

"I hate the BVs," Sara said. "I'm about ready to toss it out."

"Well, I might have something to fix that," Beca said. "I mean, I can't sing it for you, but I'll get it on paper and you can do what you want with it from there."

"Awesome," Sara said. "Can't wait to have you back, Beca."

"I can't wait to be back," she said. "But yeah, next week. And I better be going, I promised Bree I'd do some grocery shopping before she got home." She farewelled the group and headed downstairs. She called a cab and waited with the security guy at the door until it arrived, before heading to the supermarket. They didn't need much, so she was back home with plenty of time to have a rest and then start doing a little work for the next week. She was absolutely itching to get back to work, and she was still plugging away at it when Aubrey got home and scolded her for not taking it easy.


	13. Chapter 13

Beca returned to work the following Monday with a handful of ideas that she wanted to run past Sara for a few of the tracks they'd been having problems with. She could now talk pretty much back to normal as long as she didn't get too loud, and she could hum but not sing. Well, she could, but there was no range outside of her normal speaking pitches to speak of. So a large part of the work she'd brought in with her was music charts so she could explain her ideas to everyone without having to sing them.

She was welcomed warmly back by everyone. She'd run into Sharelle and Delilah in the coffee place next door, being hugged by both of them. Her bruises were paling now, save for the one at her neck that was still darker than the others. So there wasn't much left to gawk at, because the colder turn of the weather meant Beca was wearing a heavier coat, buttoned up.

She'd dropped in to see Annie first and clear up the conditions of her return. The doc said she was fine to work, but she was willing to see how she went. If she started getting headaches or a bit drowsy late in the day, she might have to call it off early, which Annie supported.

"Hey, if I had my way you'd be off another week at least," she said. "I mean, I'm glad you're well enough to come back, but there was no hurry, Beca."

"I know, I was just going crazy sitting around all day," Beca said. "Bree was working so it was pretty much me sitting inside and doing nothing. And I had ideas, so." Annie smiled at her and told her to get moving then. She headed to the studio level, knowing she was early and set up in the room across the hall.

Mike was first in, which was normal. He smiled at Beca and ruffled her hair on the way past, collecting an iced tea from the fridge and sitting down. Beca fidgeted for a second, because the way the story had been relayed to her, she owed Mike a lot for pulling that asshole off of her.

"Hey Mike?" she said. "I just wanted to, you know. Thank you. For pulling that crazy guy off of me. I owe you, dude."

"First," he said, "You don't owe me. Second, it was nothing. I saw someone in trouble and stepped in."

"It wasn't nothing to me, " Beca said. "It was actually life-saving. So thanks."

"Anytime," he said. They heard voices coming through the hall, meaning that the rest of the crew was showing up. Beca steeled herself to exclaimed at, hugged and fussed over in varying measures as people walked through the door. Once they were all done, Beca just held up her notebook.

"Can we get to work now?" she asked. Sara and Jason laughed and they moved across to the studio. For the first hour or so everyone was setting up as Jason and Sara caught Beca up on what they'd done while she'd been off. After they were ready to go, Beca took over and started telling Sara about the first of the ideas that she'd been working on while she was off.

It was a track that had shown lots of promise. They'd laid all the vocals on top of a simple piano and for some reason, the background vocals just didn't seem right. They felt out of place. So Beca pulled out the vocal chart and Sara looked it over.

"You sure?" Sara said. She was skimming it pretty quickly.

"Yeah," she said. "I know it seems crazy but I think hitting those notes hard will kick some contrast into it. You won't need to worry about building a full scale arrangement on it, it'll work, trust me." Sara was nodding her head like she was running the parts in her head.

"Let's get it down," she said. "No harm in trying right? I think you might be on to something here." They got ready to go and Sara sang the backup vocals over one another for the better part of an hour. After she'd laid everything properly, they played it back.

Sara leaned back in a chair with her eyes closed, foot tapping and hand moving slightly as the track played. She looked happy with it, Beca thought, which was all she was concerned with. Jason looked impressed and gave Beca a thumbs up, and Jeremy also looked positive.

"Yeah," Sara said when it was finished playing. "Yeah, that's it. It wasn't quite the direction I was going for when I imagined it, but it's better. Dude, I don't know how the fuck you do that, but I'm all about it. I'm glad you're back."

"I'm glad to be back," Beca said. From that point, the rest of the week ran smoothly. They'd record, toss ideas back and forth all day, and then Beca would climb into a cab and go home to Aubrey. She'd only had to take painkillers at work once, and had ended up bailing early once she realized she could feel her pulse throbbing at the back of her eyes. She still took the occasional pill at night, but on the whole was recovering well.

The police contacted Aubrey Friday afternoon to let her know that Peter's bail was being upheld until trial. He was out of appeals in that regard, which brought them both great comfort. The trial had been set for six weeks time, and both Beca and Aubrey were going to be required to testify, meaning they were going to have to meet up a few times beforehand. Aubrey had relayed this to Beca, who had just nodded and said she'd pass it on to Annie. Annie was more than happy to give Beca whatever time off she needed to take care of things, so she knew it wouldn't be a big deal.

A couple more weeks had passed and they were drawing close to the end of the album. Jason was doing a lot of mastering in the afternoons now, and was comfortable leaving Beca and Mike in the booths with Sara. It was just after lunch on a Thursday afternoon and Beca had come back a little early, since Aubrey had called. While she waited, she sat at the piano and started goofing around a little. Sara came back and sat on the stool next to her. She watched Beca for a few moments and then joined in, picking up what Beca was playing around with.

"So what's this we're playing?" she said.

"I've been getting a mix running through my head," Beca said. "Obviously this song, you know."

"Yeah, I Get A Kick Out of You," Sara said. "What's the other one?' Beca just shook her head and instead began singing the song. Her voice was pretty much back now, she just still strained a little at the top part of her register. But this was in a decent key. Sara joined in and they duetted for a while, until Beca motioned for her to lower her piece a little and switched it up.

"She, she knocks me off my feet, she makes me want to live again," she sang. "She, she knocks me down like rain, pouring through my heart, she's all I got…" Sara nodded and they kept going, Beca occasionally switching the lead of whatever song they were singing, until they ended on their original song. When they finished, there was clapping coming from the booth. They looked up and saw a handful of musicians plus Mike and Annie watching. Jeremy had his phone out and was recording from the doorway.

"That was fun," Sara said.

"Yeah it was," Beca agreed. "That mix is gonna work, obviously."

"You should be putting that on YouTube," Jeremy said. "I got the whole thing on my phone." Beca balked for a second.

"We'll look it over again later," Sara said. "Give us a sec, J?" The man nodded and left the room.

"Something up?" Beca asked.

"Not in the way you're thinking," Sara said. "It's about songwriter credits on some of these tracks."

"What?" Beca asked, a little confused. "What do you mean, songwriter credits?"

"Well, you helped out pretty significantly on at least two of them," Sara said. "It'd be rude not to give you credit for that. And you've done a lot of work here that most people would argue gets you added to the liner notes on most of the album."

"Yeah, but I don't actually care about most people," Beca said. "Honestly, I wasn't figuring on songwriting credits at all. This is my first actual job, dude. I learned way more than I helped out, trust me. I'm not going to get assy about how many times my name appears on some bit of paper."

"You're straight to it," Sara laughed. "Look, here's how I see it. I'm adding you to the two that I think you fucking nailed and that you deserve your name on. The others I'll leave, but I'll add you into the gushy bit where I thank everyone who helped out."

"Wow, that's really cool of you," Beca said. "I wasn't expecting anything like that, but I appreciate it."

"I'm keeping you in mind," Sara said. "For the next one. And for a few people I know who are looking for someone to help them out."

"Oh shit, seriously?" Beca said. "God. Thank you."

"Jason and Annie told me a bit about you," Sara said, shrugging. "I think if you keep working hard and voicing your opinions you're gonna be fine."

"Yeah, well, thanks for making my first record so easy," Beca said.

"My pleasure," Sara said. "So do you mind if I put that little video up on the YouTube channel?"

"Nah, go for it," Beca said. "Call it a behind the scenes or whatever."

"Awesome," Sara said. "Good work on the album, by the way. I can see why Annie and Jason talked you up so much. And I'll want to see you and your other half at the launch party." She left Beca sitting in the booth alone.

When Beca got home, she filled Aubrey in about her day and what Sara had said. Aubrey was beyond proud of Beca and what she'd managed to achieve on her first recording job. She had her own work-related news to share. The reports she'd written on child labor laws were being presented as part of a package during the upcoming International Labor Conference in Geneva the following summer. It was a very big deal, her boss had said, especially as a first year legal associate, and there was a chance she may be able to attend the conference as well.

Their moods were so good that a phone call telling them they were required for court the following Monday only dampened their spirits for a moment. They decided to go out for a casually late dinner, and stopped for coffee on the way home as well. They walked home hand in hand, Beca tugging Aubrey into her embrace at every stoplight, kissing her a little more deeply each and every time. By the time they made it to their building, Aubrey was flustered and barely able to stop from taking Beca right inside the lobby.

They managed to keep their hands to themselves until they got inside their apartment, and Beca stepped toward her girlfriend with a predatory look in her eyes. She pulled Aubrey in for a long kiss, pressing her body hard against the blonde until they shuffled back against the wall. Aubrey moaned into her mouth as she began by placing soft kisses on her neck. She shivered as Beca's teeth gently sunk into her skin at the crook of her neck.

Beca's hands took Aubrey's and she pinned them above her head. Their lips met in another deep kiss. The brunette held both of Aubrey's hands in one of hers and let the other slowly caress its way down her body, stopping to let her fingers curl into the waistband of her khaki shorts.

"You're always gonna be the most beautiful thing in the world to me," Beca said. "I love you."

She gently pushed the waistband of the shorts down a little so she could get her hand inside her panties. Then she freed Aubrey's hands and tugged the shirt off of her and tossed it aside. She unclasped her bra with a practiced hand and with her other she gently began running her fingers through her girlfriend's folds, before taking a nipple into her mouth. She kept her actions steady and switched nipples until both were hard and peaked.

Aubrey's head was tilted back to the wall slightly, her teeth biting into her lower lip and her eyes squeezed firmly closed. The brunette's hand moved up to cup the back of her neck, her thumb pushing her jaw up to expose the column of her neck. She planted hot kisses under jaw as her fingers entered her, moaning at the raw gasping sound Aubrey made. As her fingers pleasured her, her thumb gently flicked over her clit, lips still assaulting her neck and jaw and her other hand roaming her body. Beca felt Aubrey begin to tremble and used the free hand to support her as her orgasm washed over her with a strangled moan.

"Jesus Christ," Aubrey managed. "That was hot." Beca met her eyes with a mischievous smile.

"You think so?" Aubrey nodded, her breathing beginning to return to normal. She let her hands drift to Beca's ass and pull her close.

"I love you so goddamn much, Beca Mitchell," she said. Her hands migrated from her ass, one sliding up her shirt and the other fisting in her hair as she kissed her roughly, teeth nipping a little harder than normal at her lip.

"Too much?" Aubrey asked as Beca sucked in a gasp.

"Don't you dare stop," Beca said. Aubrey laughed softly and brought her mouth to her neck and continued her ministrations. Her other hand was firmly cupping her breast, raking fingertips over her nipple. She broke away to tug the tank top and jacket off, deftly unhooking the bra and bringing her mouth to Beca's ample chest.

Beca whimpered as the blonde cupped her through her jeans. Aubrey would normally love to torture the smaller girl until she was absolutely begging for it. Instead she popped the button of her jeans and slid the zipper down. Her underwear was already wet with her arousal and Aubrey hummed her approval.

"Please Bree," Beca begged. Aubrey let her hand slide into the underwear and found Beca's clit, circling it softly. Beca's knees trembled just slightly and Aubrey capitalized on the weakness, reversing their positions.

Beca's eyes fell closed as Aubrey continued to work her fingers, soft pants escaping her mouth. The blonde loved watching Beca's face when she was like this, loved seeing her come undone. She brought their lips together as she entered her with a firm push, then bit down on the crook of her neck as she began to pump. Beca's hips began to rock and her legs shifted a little wider, a sure sign that she was coming close. So Aubrey sped up, her fingers still thrusting and the heel of her palm hitting Beca's clit with each motion.

Soon enough Beca let out a moan and fell against her, the blonde catching her and slowly removing her fingers as she steadied the smaller woman. Beca's darkened eyes met hers and she kissed Aubrey tenderly, the way she always did after they had sex. She brushed Aubrey's hair back behind her ear.

"I love you Bree," she said sincerely.

"I love you too," Aubrey said, kissing her again. Beca didn't want to end the embrace, so she instead began tugging Aubrey toward the bedroom, making sure she popped the button on the blonde's shorts along the way. She kicked off her own shoes somewhere in the hall, and Aubrey's sandals were long discarded. They landed on the bed together, a confused tangle of arms removing the last of their clothing before their hands claimed the treasured skin underneath.

Aubrey woke in the morning with Beca's arm wrapped snugly over her midsection. She took a moment longer in bed, enjoying the security and intimacy she felt, before she got up, brushing a kiss to Beca's forehead as she did. The brunette stirred.

"Morning already?" she mumbled. "Nooo." Aubrey chuckled.

"Yes, grumpy," she teased. "I'll make you coffee when I'm done in the shower."

"Love you," Beca managed, before smashing her face back into the pillow to savor a few more precious minutes of sleep. Aubrey shook her head and headed for the bathroom. When she had finished, she was surprised to see that Beca was up and had gotten the coffee. Aubrey kissed her on the lips and took her mug.

"Thought you were asleep," Aubrey said.

"I was," Beca said. "Got something in my head, wouldn't let me get back to sleep."

"Mix?" Aubrey asked, naming the most obvious culprit. Beca shook her head.

"Song," she said. "Maybe. I don't know. There are ideas that need to be looked at." Aubrey was still amazed at the creativity her girlfriend could display at random intervals.

"And what brought this on?" Aubrey asked. Beca was pretty articulate about what gave her ideas for music.

"Uh… you did?" Beca said. "Or, we did. Last night I guess."

"Beca, are you writing a song about us having sex?" Aubrey asked. It made her girlfriend blush.

"Not… explicitly," she replied. "But like… I don't know. How about I work on it and let you hear it? It's not weird or porny or anything, it's more… well, I'll know when I finish it I guess." Aubrey just leaned over and kissed her.

"You know I love you, right?" Aubrey said, her nose wrinkling slightly.

"Yeah," Beca said. "And I love you." She downed the last of her coffee and headed to the bathroom. Aubrey could hear her humming bits and pieces over and over again as she showered. She could hear muttering alongside it and knew that next time she showered there would be streakmarks on the glass of the shower where Beca had scribbled things down so she could see them. She was used to it. And she loved all the little weird quirks her girlfriend had, especially the ones connected to the way she wrote music.

Beca got out of the shower and they were ready to leave at the same time, so they walked as far as the subway together, Beca leaving a tender kiss on her girlfriend's lips as she descended the stairs, and Aubrey turning to hail a cab.


	14. Chapter 14

When Beca got to work on Friday, Jason met her at the studio. They were pretty much done with the record, he explained. He invited her to sit in on the mastering session that afternoon, but for the morning she wasn't actually required for the album. He did, however, say that Annie wanted to see her, so it was best she went downstairs.

"That sounds ominous," Beca said.

"No, nothing bad, firecracker," he said. "We like you. And I'm English so I don't do the emotional shit, but it was good to have you on this album, Becky. Hopefully we'll get to do another together real soon."

"I'd like that," Beca said. "I learned a shitload under you, and I appreciate your willingness to teach."

"Well, I'll see you after lunch. I'll find you, probably about one thirty, but you should catch up with Annie," he said. Beca nodded and headed down to Annie's office. Georgie said she was on the phone but would be out in a minute, so Beca relaxed on one of the couches. A few moments later, Annie came out.

"Sorry to keep you," she said. "Walk with me." Beca got to her feet and kept pace with the Louboutins as they hit the elevator. They went up a few levels, above the studio levels, and got off.

"So, it wasn't ready before the record with Sara because you kind of took us by surprise," Annie said. "But it's ready now and since you have a morning free, it feels like a good time to let you settle in." Beca was confused.

"What?" she asked. Annie smiled and pointed down a hall, so they turned and walked down some more until they reached a door. There was a small nameplate on it that said "Beca Mitchell".

"Your office," she said. Beca's jaw must have dropped. "Well, where did you think you were going to work when you weren't in studio?"

"I honestly hadn't thought about that," Beca said. Annie gestured to her ID.

"Your card should unlock it," she said. Beca held her card to the box by the door and she heard the click as it disengaged the lock. "I can unlock it, there are about six other people who can unlock it above me - but none of them will try - the security guys can unlock it and the janitorial staff can unlock it between the hours of eight pm and six am."

"Wow," Beca said, stepping inside. It wasn't what she'd expected. Upon hearing the word "office" she'd immediately pictured a small, drab cubicle painted a boring white and a decades old desk. But it was the exact opposite of that. It wasn't huge, but it was pretty big. The walls were off-white, but the paint was fresh. A window ran along the wall, tinted dark, with a vertical blind gathered at one end. The desk was a thing of actual beauty. It was huge. There was a desktop Mac in the corner - Annie explained that she would still be able to use her laptop, and that the other terminal was for in-house only programs - and plenty of space for her to bring some of her gear in if she wanted to. There was an expensive looking chair on her side of the desk and two others parked opposite. Then in the corner a more comfortable pair of chairs set either side of a low table.

"Man this is so cool," Beca said. A pair of filing cabinets sat side by side on the wall, as well as a longish cupboard.

"So the deal is you can keep whatever you want in here," Annie said. "A lot of the guys have coffee makers and stuff. But if it becomes a problem for the janitorial staff in terms of cleanliness HR will have to deal with that."

"It won't be," Beca said. "I drink my coffee black most of the time, so there's no concern about off milk and I'm pretty tidy."

"If you leave stuff on top of your desk overnight, they won't touch it," Annie said. "But that also mean your desktop doesn't get cleaned, so try not to make it a habit. There's a bathroom around the corner as well. Shared kitchen type facilities at the far end of the floor, I'm afraid."

"Dude, I'm still blowing out at the fact that I even have an office," Beca said.

"You can't paint, but you can hang artwork, and you can buy rugs or whatever, but the furniture stays. You can move it around if you like, but try not to scratch the floors," she said.

"I won't," Beca said. Annie gestured to the comfortable chairs and Beca sat down.

"So now that your first album as over, we should talk about the kinds of stuff you'll be doing in between," Annie said. "I know you have court next week, so depending on how that all goes, this will be a week after next kind of thing."

"Shoot," Beca said.

"There are a few people here I'd like you to spend some time with," Annie said. "Jason was one. But there are a few others, and I've booked you in for half days with them over a few weeks to get to know some of the procedure apart from recording. So you'll spend some more time with Mike because he's one of the best tech hands we've ever had, and a few of the mastering guys, and another producer."

"Sounds good," Beca said.

"The half days are kind of important," Annie said, "Because outside of actually doing an album it's not normal to spend a whole day doing the one project. I've also got you swinging in to do some stuff with Ted Shepherd, see how your ear is for identifying talent."

"I'm looking forward to it," Beca said. "I just want to learn as much as I can."

"What about your own work, though?" Annie asked. "Are you working on things?"

"Not so much lately with all the drama going on," Beca admitted. "But I woke up with a bit of something in my head that could turn into something else."

"Well, I'd encourage you to work on original stuff," the woman continued. "Because Ted and I kind of have you pegged as a jack of all trades, and that includes some songwriting, we're sure. So put a few things together and we will try to shop them around."

"Seriously?" Beca said.

"Of course I'm serious," Annie said with a laugh. "Your card unlocks the studio suites, you just need to clear it with the guys doing the schedule there to make sure it's empty. And if they tell you to get out because they need the space, then-"

"I get the fuck out because they need the space," Beca said. "Got it. Uh, what's the rule about borrowing gear and working in here?"

"Well, these walls aren't soundproof, so provided your neighbors don't complain, it's fine," Annie said. "Just grab what you need provided it doesn't need to be used in studio. Headphones preferred."

"Oh that's not a problem," Beca said.

"The only other thing of importance is the phone. If you don't pick up it bounces back to the people at switchboard. They'll take a message and email it to you immediately. If you know you're going to be out of the office or unavailable for an extended period of time, give them a heads up. There's a full extension list in your top drawer. Right. Well, I have a meeting in about twenty so I'll be off," Annie said. "I'll email you a copy of what I have lined up in terms of sessions and stuff. And keep me updated on the court proceedings, if you need some more time off I can work things out for you."

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Beca said. Annie left her in the office alone. Her office. Beca got up and sat at her desk, running her hands along the smooth surface. She pulled open the drawers and balked when she found four boxes in the bottom, opening them to find business cards with her name and what she assumed was her extension number printed on them under Epic's logo. _Beca Mitchell - Producer/Songwriter/Engineer._

Well, that was just fucking insane. She pulled her cell out and dialed Aubrey. It went to voicemail so she left a quick message saying to call when she was free. But she felt like she needed to talk to somebody about this insane but really cool development, so she texted Cynthia Rose.

 _You free?_ Her phone rang and Beca answered.

"What's going on?" Cynthia Rose said.

"I had to tell someone and Bree's busy," Beca said. "This is the craziest thing ever. But this morning I show up to work and Annie walks me to this door and all of a sudden I have my own fucking office."

"You have an office?!" Cynthia Rose said. "Well that's pretty professional and shit."

"I know," Beca said. "I didn't even figure I'd need one. And I've even got business cards and all kinds of shit, and I've barely been in this job long enough to breathe."

"That's kinda really cool, though," CR said. "Put me on FaceTime and give me the tour." Beca switched the call to FaceTime and gave CR the tour of her office.

"It's pretty sweet," Beca said, turning the camera back off. "Obviously I'll need something for the walls, it's a bit boring."

"Let me get Natalie on to that," CR said. "I'm sure she'd love to do you up something."

"Seriously?" Beca said.

"Sure, I'll talk to her," Cynthia Rose said.

"How's work going?" Beca asked. The other girl sighed.

"It's alright," she said. "It's a good learning experience, and I needed something, but I wish there was more. I was talking to Nat about it and she mentioned that she and Aubrey talked about me trying to find a grad program like yours."

"That's actually a great idea," Beca said. "Some of the guys in my group were public relations and marketing types. I think you should try that, for sure. Like, here even. They're about good people and you're the best."

"You think I'd have a shot at Epic?" CR said.

"For sure," Beca said. "You handled all my shit for me during college, helped me with the Bellas stuff, you're doing an internship, you can articulate what you want man. I'll see what the deal is for applications and let you know if you like."

"That'd be awesome," Cynthia Rose said. "Thanks B."

"Anytime man," Beca said. "Do you reckon Nat would move to New York with you?"

"Probably," Cynthia Rose said. "She's always saying that if I need to move she'd come with, because teaching is pretty transferable skill."

"I'll look into it," Beca said. "I miss you, dude."

"Yeah, you too," CR said. "Maybe we'll try and get up after Christmas." Beca completely forgot that Christmas was quickly approaching.

"That'd be cool," Beca said. "We aren't going anywhere, so pick a date and we'll be here."

"Sounds good," CR said. "Anyway, I should go, I'm technically working. But we'll talk soon?"

"Yeah, I'll call you after court on Monday," Beca said.

"You better," she said. They hung up and Beca spent a few minutes poking around her office, settling in and setting up her laptop. She found that there was a stack of notepads and a few boxes of both pens and pencils in one of the cupboards. She logged into the work terminal and had a look around at what was on there, set up her email to forward to her phone. She also had a read of the phone list, noting what number would get her to the switchboard, the supply clerks, the studio level and all sorts of things. About half hour later, Aubrey called her cell. She repeated the tour process for her girlfriend, who remarked that Beca's office was bigger than hers, but that it was seriously cool.

"What do we have planned for tonight?" Beca asked.

"Nothing," Aubrey said. "But I can't wait to get home and see you."

"I love you," Beca said. "I'll pick up dinner on the way home."

"Okay," Aubrey said. "Love you." Beca grabbed her ID card and headed to the hardware department. She found an inventory clerk and asked if they had any keyboards available for a few days.

"Sure," he said. "We got a mess of them. Casio okay?"

"That'll do," Beca said. She followed the guy down one of the aisles and he stopped at a rack where he pulled a hard case out.

"You just need to sign here," he said, tugging a log from his back pocket, "And I need to see your ID, coz I don't actually recognize you. Sorry."

"No need to apologise," Beca said. "I'm pretty new. Beca Mitchell." She shook his hand and then showed him the ID.

"Simon Price," he said. He got her to put her name and signature in the log and he scrawled what she assumed was an asset number in another column. "This board isn't scheduled for studio anytime soon, so you can hang onto it for a while. If you want to take it home, that's a different form all together."

"No, I'm set for home," Beca said. "Thanks, Simon."

"You gonna be alright getting that to your office?" he asked. "It's pretty heavy." Beca tested the weight of it.

"Should be fine," she replied. "Thanks though." She lugged the keyboard back to her office and set it up. It was basically a better version of the one she had at home, so it didn't take much time to assemble it all and plug it into her laptop. She pulled one of the blank notepads out and began scribbling things on it. Then she tugged her headphones out of her messenger bag and plugged them into the keyboard. She thought she had the beginnings of a chord progression figured out, so she tinkered around for a little while.

She broke off for coffee and made a mental note to get a small machine for her office - still an insane thought - and went back to work. She ignored the keyboard for a while and flipped a new page, working at some lyrics for a while instead. It felt a little weird, she thought, to be writing this song at work. Because she was constantly reminded that she'd conceived this song after having sex with her girlfriend. Really good sex, yes, but nonetheless.

When she was sure she'd put the words on paper that she wanted to keep, she switched back to the keyboard. She recorded the simple chord progression she'd landed on and hummed the melody she had in mind a few times. It seemed to work pretty good but she really wouldn't know for sure until she got a drum line in on it. She wasn't much for drum kits so she figured she'd bring her board and looper in the next time she came in to work and go from there.

Her stomach growled and she checked her watch. It was quarter to one so she figured she should quickly grab something to eat. She settled on the noodle place across the street, took it back to eat in her office and was just tossing her trash away when there was a knock on the door.

"Settling in?" Jason's voice said.

"Yeah," Beca said. "I didn't even see the office thing coming, seriously."

"You're a bit of a twit then," he said. "You need somewhere to settle in, you can't just flit around from studio to studio."

"Yeah, so I've been told," Beca said. He nodded toward the keyboard.

"But you're working on something," he said. "Good to see."

"Yeah," she said. "Kind of a dirty electro waltz sounding song."

"Sounds interesting," Jason said. "Alright, let's see about mastering some tracks." He jerked his head and Beca patted her pocket to make sure she was still wearing her ID. Then she snagged a pen and notepad from her desk and followed Jason.

It was an interesting afternoon. It was less about capturing the sound of the song and more about perfecting it. Perfecting the balance, the fade, cleaning the track beginning and ending and getting it ready for data transfer. Sara stopped by late in the afternoon to check up on some of the tracks and see if they were ready to go. She hung around for the remainder of the day with Beca and Jason, which wasn't too much longer. As they began to finish up for the day, Sara spoke up.

"Hey, you guys should come for dinner," Sara said. "Tomorrow night. At Thao Thao, it's not far from here. I'm having a thing for the guys who helped me out on the album and you two should be there."

"Uh, sure," Beca said. "I don't have any plans that I'm aware of."

"And bring Aubrey," Sara said.

"Yeah, I will," Beca said. "Thanks." They finished closing off and Beca collected her things and headed home. She texted Aubrey to let her know of their dinner invitation for the next night and then called ahead to their favorite Chinese place. She shook her head, wondering whatever happened to all their big miraculous plans around learning how to cook.

As the taxi neared their neighborhood, she was hit with how many places did in fact have Christmas decorations and trees up. She'd barely had time to take notice of it with everything that was going on. She and Aubrey had talked very briefly about what their holiday plans were. Being their first New York Christmas together they were planning on hanging around, but Beca had invited her Aunt Marina out to see the city just after New Year. Her dad and Sheila would likely be out in February sometime, and Aubrey's dad was going to get back to them and let them know when he'd be visiting. But for Christmas itself, it was going to just be the two of them.

She hadn't even really put any thought into a gift for Aubrey, which she felt guilty about. She knew that Aubrey probably had found herself in the same boat and decided she might suggest to her that they forgo buying each other gifts and do something together or go somewhere together instead. Because she didn't need or want much out of life, as long as she had Aubrey. A gentle smile played on her lips as the cab continued on.


	15. Chapter 15

Beca didn't think she was nervous about their upcoming court proceedings. It was just the assault he was on trial for at this point, and the prosecutor had said that the assault was a slam dunk, but they could always file another motion for the stalking later if that was something they wanted. Aubrey had instructed her about how to respond to questions, about staying on topic and not giving away any more than was necessary. Beca had queried that, saying they hadn't done anything wrong so why hold back, and Aubrey had sighed.

"Because defense attorneys are pretty good at making people doubt what they already know to be true," she said. "I just can't think about him getting out."

They'd stopped referring to Peter by his name unconsciously but it didn't bother Beca one bit. She got up and wrapped her arms around Aubrey.

"He won't," she said confidently.

Now she was sitting herself down into a seat and promising she'd tell the truth so help her God. She looked over at Aubrey, her girlfriend saying that if she felt nervous just to focus on her. It did make her feel better.

"Can you state your name for the record please?" the county's lawyer said. He was a good guy, wanted nothing more than to lock Peter up forever.

"Beca Mitchell," she said.

"And can you tell us what happened on the day in question?"

"Some of my colleagues and I were headed to the dumpling bar down the street from work for lunch," she began.

"Where do you work?"

"I'm a producer, engineer and songwriter at Epic Records," she said. He motioned for her to continue. "My phone rang so I hung back a beat so I could hear my girlfriend Aubrey clearly without the chatter."

"How many people were with you?"

"Eight," she replied. "I was talking to Aubrey and then the next thing I remember was my face hitting the concrete wall. Twice. Then I remember unbearable pain in my neck and throat, I couldn't breathe and I had no idea what was going on. But I opened my eyes and realized I recognized the man with his hands around my neck."

"And who was that man?"

"The defendant, Peter Cameron."

"Had you met him before?"

"He showed up at my house once, pretty much demanded to be allowed inside even though my girlfriend and I asked him to leave," she said. "Then I saw him again the following day, sitting outside our old apartment on the hood of a car, just watching the building."

"So you're saying you didn't provoke the attack?"

"I was completely blindsided," Beca said. "I didn't even know he was there."

"What happened next?"

"I can't say what happened immediately after that," Beca said.

"Why not?"

"Because I was unconscious," Beca said. "According to everyone who was there I was unconscious for about three minutes. At that point I woke up and was lying on the footpath. Two of my colleagues advised me to stay put and said there was an ambulance on the way."

"So you were significantly injured?"

"My nose and cheekbone were broken," she said, "My eye socket was fractured in two places and I suffered severe bruising to the neck."

"How severe?"

"It took eight days to be able to speak or swallow without any pain," she said. "And almost a month to get my full vocal range back."

"And it took three grown men to pull him off you?"

"I don't know, I was unconscious," Beca said. Aubrey had reiterated how important it was to discuss only what she knew as firsthand fact, and nothing else, and that it wouldn't hurt to try and repeat that she was unconscious as often as possible.

"Go back to before this incident happened," the lawyer said. "When he showed up at your house. What happened?"

"He asked if Aubrey was home and I said it depended on who was asking," Beca explained. "He then stated that he was fairly sure I wasn't real and that he'd stopped by to help Aubrey with some work."

"And what did she say?"

"First she asked how he got our home address," Beca explained. "Because she never gave it to him. Then she said he wasn't welcome. He said it was polite for us to invite him in, and that's when I told him that it would have been polite not to show up uninvited and asked him to leave. He left."

"What about the second time?" the lawyer prompted.

"I didn't speak to him that time," Beca said. "We were meeting with some police officers. They were helping Aubrey deal with the situation because things were becoming increasingly difficult at work. I'd gone into the kitchen to get rid of some dinner garbage and saw him sitting outside the building. The cops went and dealt with it, so as to what exactly happened, I don't know."

The lawyer declared that he was done and then Peter's lawyer took over. It was pretty poor from the start. He began by calling her Rebecca, which in her eyes was just damn rude. He tried to get her to admit to seeing things or witnessing things that had occurred while she was unconscious. He repeatedly tried to get her to say that Mike had been the one who finally pulled Peter off - something she knew to be true, but Aubrey had coached her perfectly, and she just kept repeating that she didn't know. It grew old very quickly though, and he kept calling her Rebecca, which was making her angry. Aubrey could see she was starting to get antsy and whispered to the prosecutor to say something, and the lawyer noticed as well.

"Are you getting uncomfortable, Rebecca?" he said. Beca rolled her eyes. She wanted to punch this guy's lights out. The prosecuting lawyer stood up.

"Your honor, I request that the defense please refer to the witness by her legal name," he said. "This is just disrespectful."

"The defense will refer to the witness correctly, please," the judge agreed.

"You've never been called Rebecca before?" the defense asked.

"No," she said. "At least, not officially. Sometimes someone might mistakenly call me that, but I'd correct them and it'd be fine."

"So you've never gone by Rebecca?" he asked.

"No," she repeated. Then she added, "On account of my parents putting Beca on my birth certificate and all, but hey, who bothers with the important details in situations like this, right?" She noticed Aubrey duck her head, a smile on her lips. Only her girlfriend would be a smartass during court. The lawyer moved on, trying to distance himself from that barb.

"You stated that you only saw Mr Cameron twice in person before the attack," the lawyer continued. "Once from a considerable distance away. You're sure you saw him, though?"

"Yes," Beca said.

"One hundred percent positive?"

"Yes," she said.

"How can you be sure?" he asked.

"Because the second that guy knocked on my door, the second I saw his face for the first time, I made sure I committed it to memory," Beca said. "Because my girlfriend was terrified of him and what he might do, and there was no way I was going to just not recognize him. His face was burned onto the back of my eyelids for a few very long nights. I saw his face everywhere, so when I say that his was the face I saw when I was being strangled against a wall, I mean it." Aubrey saw a few of the jurors nod slightly. Beca had been pretty much perfect as a witness. None of them seemed to be in any doubt whatsoever about what had happened.

They let her down and called a recess for lunch. Aubrey hugged her and the lawyer said she'd done brilliantly.

"Thanks," Beca said. "Do I have to be here for the rest of it?"

"It'll help if you hang around," the lawyer said. "But you've got an hour to kill." Aubrey stood and tugged Beca up by the hand.

"Dude, Peter's looking at me like he wants to choke me out again and all I'm doing is holding your hand," Beca said. They all looked over and sure enough, he was staring at them hard.

"Keep it up then," the lawyer said. "Maybe he'll break and blow his shit, it'll only add to our case."

They disappeared for lunch, quietly eating and not talking about the case at all. When they returned after the lunch break, the prosecutor called the next witness, one of the kids who had tried to pull Peter off of Beca. She tuned out, not needing to hear what had happened. She found herself looking over at the jury, and they were intently listening to the witness testimony. She heard as the defense attorney got up and tried to unsuccessfully to discredit the witness, and she saw at least three of the jurors roll their eyes. That was a good sign.

She didn't follow most of the afternoon's proceedings, but at least tried to look like she was paying attention. In reality she was thinking about the song she had been writing, trying to figure out what was bothering her about it. When court finally let out for the day, all the prosecutorial witnesses had finished and now Peter was left to offer his defense the next day.

"Does that mean we gotta come back tomorrow?" Beca asked Aubrey as they slid into the back of the cab.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Aubrey said. "You'll need to be around in case they need to recall you. But from where I'm sitting, Peter's not doing well."

"The jury hates him," Beca said. "They can barely stop shooting him dirty looks."

"Well, he is an asshole," Aubrey said. "He did beat the shit out of a girl who is a foot shorter than him and eighty pounds lighter. Who wasn't expecting it."

"Yeah, he's a dirtbag," Beca sighed. "I'll call Annie and tell her I'll be out for another day." She called in and spoke to Annie, explaining that court was going to be at least one more day but it seemed to be going well. She was more than accommodating, asking only that Beca keep her in the loop. They headed home, Aubrey to call her father and update him, Beca doing the same for both her father and then Cynthia Rose. Her best friend had wanted to come and be there as moral support, but was hampered by work. Beca didn't mind, but she still wanted to call her to decompress after the day's events. While she was talking, Aubrey came in and whispered that she'd ordered pasta in and she was taking a shower. Beca nodded in response.

Their night was quiet and uneventful, Aubrey flicking the television on for some background noise. Beca wasn't really paying attention and neither was Aubrey. She was flicking between the screen and her laptop, some ridiculously complicated looking data set to do with child trafficking. She had confessed that it was actually really hard to read some of the stuff she had, but that she was enjoying the work a lot. Beca just watched her work, sometimes humming and jotting things into a notebook.

"Still working on that song?" Aubrey asked, recognizing the tune.

"Yeah," Beca said. "Something feels a little off. I'll get it though."

"Can I hear what you've done or is it something structural?" Beca smiled at her girlfriend. She understood that Beca was generally happy to let Aubrey hear anything that she'd written, unless the problem with the song was something structural like the timing or the key, or the basic melody. If it was lyrics or the arrangement wasn't quite finished, she was fine with it.

"It's structural," she said. "But as soon as it's done you can."

"I'm interested in hearing it, given the subject matter," Aubrey said. "When you're ready."

"I love you, Bree," Beca said. Aubrey shifted the laptop off of her knees to the coffee table and leaned over to kiss her.

"I love you too," she said. "More every day."

"Hey I was thinking about Christmas," Beca said. "It's not that far away."

"No, it's not," Aubrey sighed. "It kind of snuck up on me."

"Sounds like it's taken you as much by surprise as me," Beca said. "I'll be honest, I haven't even thought about a present yet. But I was thinking instead… maybe we could book ourselves a trip away? Like a four day weekend or something? It could be our present to each other." Aubrey tugged the smaller girl closer to her and wrapped her arm around her.

"That sounds perfect," Aubrey said. "Can we go to Hawaii?"

"We can go anywhere you want," Beca said. "I've never been to Hawaii." Aubrey turned and kissed her, letting her teeth tug softly at Beca's bottom lip. Beca hummed appreciatively and let her arms wrap around Aubrey, pulling her down.

The following day was long and mostly boring. Beca only really paid attention when Peter took the stand, offering an absolutely pissweak argument that Beca had provoked the attack by flaunting the relationship in his face. He had seemingly invented a few occasions when they had supposedly seen each other - Aubrey remarked that he had constructed them with such clarity and belief he'd probably get off if he was arguing insanity - which the prosecutor had torn apart.

When the defense lawyer - who Beca had just learned was Peter's cousin - had suggested that Beca's alibi for the dates in question, being every single person who worked on Sara's record, and every person who worked at Epic Records in general and could attest to her being there, were in fact lying, there were audible scoffs from the jurors.

They broke for lunch after the closing arguments and the two lawyers huddled together for a moment. The prosecutor came back and said that the case was as good as won in his eyes, and he suspected the defense's eyes also.

He was right. After the hour break for lunch, it only took forty minutes for the jury to agree on a decision. Apparently the delay was in deciding how long the sentence should be. They were told that seven years was a common term, with the maximum for grievous bodily harm being twenty five years. Peter was sentenced to sixteen years with a non parole period of seven years.

"They'll appeal the length of the sentence," the prosecutor whispered. "They always do."

"Not this time they won't," the defense lawyer said, shaking his hand. "At least I won't. And I won't lie. There was a lot of family pressure riding on this case and if I didn't owe his dad a favor I would have turned it down. Sorry. And congratulations."

"You're kind of a dick," Beca said. "Screw family, if your family does shit like that there is no defense for it, favor or not." The man just stared at Beca in fascination for a second.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he said casually. Then he left. The prosecutor thanked them both for being available for the trial and just like that, it was over. Beca was surprised, maybe she had seen too many episodes of Law & Order but she was expecting it to be more dramatic. Either way, they had an afternoon free.

They spent it walking through nearby shops and buying a few things for the new apartment for Christmas. Beca also needed some better winter clothes, since it was her first full season of cold in New York. After they'd had enough wandering and buying, they headed home and into the shower together before they called the mass of people waiting on updates for the case, starting with family members and friends and ending with their respective bosses.

Annalise was glad to hear Beca would be back to work and said there were a few studio sessions she could sit in on for the next couple of days if she was interested. Then she also dropped a massive bomb and said that there was a good chance she'd be able to arrange for Beca to sit down with Jack Antonoff for a bit of a songwriting session. Beca wasn't an idiot, she knew he'd had a hand in a lot of good songs lately, so she was more than receptive to the idea.

When she'd finished, Aubrey was bursting with news of her own. They were offering her a specialized position working with the unit specifically dealing with child rights. It wasn't much of a pay increase, not that it mattered, but Aubrey was excited to get involved. The supervisor of the unit had asked for her after reading her child labor laws report, calling the research flawless and the writing concise and impeccable.

"Looks like when things go right, they really go right," Beca said, embracing her.

"Let's go out," Aubrey said. "Get dressed up and head out for dinner." Beca liked the sound of that, because she liked when Aubrey got dressed up. She liked Aubrey wearing anything, but it was all the more accentuated when they went out. When Aubrey was in a dress and heels, perfect makeup and hair, Beca was weak at the knees and she didn't give a shit who could tell. Her girlfriend was a knockout.

But later in bed, when Aubrey was naked, her hair messed up and makeup smudged, Beca thought she was more beautiful than ever. She was running her fingers lightly over the curve between Aubrey's breast and hip, smiling as she did so. She began humming to herself, the same song she'd been stuck on. Aubrey's hand found hers and interlaced their fingers. Then all of a sudden, Beca sat bolt upright.

"What's wrong?" Aubrey asked.

"Nothing," Beca said. "I just think…" she hummed and tapped on her knee for a few seconds.

"The song?"

"I think I just figured it out," Beca said. "I need to write it in a completely different time signature."

"Right now?" Aubrey asked, though it always amused her when Beca got like this.

"I'm not going to rewrite the whole song now," Beca said, digging in her bedside table for a composition notebook. "Just want to jot part of it down quickly so I don't forget what it sounds like in my head." Aubrey watched in fascination as Beca hurriedly drew a bunch of dots and lines all over the page in rapid succession. It only took her a few moments, but she snapped the book shut and then burrowed back into the bed.

"I'm never going to understand how you do that," Aubrey said.

"I feel the same way about you and all your legal stuff," Beca said. She shivered. "It's starting to get fucking cold."

"Well, yes, we're under a blanket but we are technically still naked," Aubrey said. "Want me to get some pajamas for you?"

"No, I'll get them in a sec," Beca said. She curled up against Aubrey. "This is my favorite method of keeping warm."

"Yeah, me too," Aubrey said, throwing an arm over her tightly as they cuddled together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who were wondering, the song Beca has written is Major Lazer's Powerful with Ellie Goulding/Tarrus Riley. Quality song, quality sexytime song.


	16. Chapter 16

When Beca got back to the office, she immediately pulled out the notebook she'd scribbled in the previous night. When she'd originally conceived this piece she'd envisaged a dirty waltz. But she didn't need the piece written in 3/4, she needed it written in 6/8 - a very minor-seeming but crucial change. She rewrote the piece entirely and ran through it with the new time signature. That was the missing thing. She was happy now. All that was left to do was book in some studio time to try and get a vocal down.

She called the studio suites and asked if there were any free booths, and was told there were a couple if she needed one. She told the guy on the phone she'd be up in about half hour and he replied that he'd book her in. She spent a little time making sure the backing was suitable to lay vocals on and headed upstairs. The studio was one of the smaller single-booth ones, which suited her just fine. The board inside wasn't too different from the ones she was familiar with already, a little bigger than her home one, but a lot smaller than the one they'd used with Sara.

She was confident in setting up her gear for the recording - she wasn't laying a full track down, just laying enough to be able to present it to someone else. The one thing she hadn't actually figured out was how she was simultaneously going to sing and produce. In the end she figured she'd just let it run and record a bunch of takes in a row. It didn't take her too long, she was out of the studio before lunch.

She wasn't anticipating that Annie wanted a fully engineered and mastered version just for a demo so after she grabbed some noodles and dumplings for lunch, she stripped the takes she had apart on her computer and cobbled it back together so it at least sounded decent. Then she added a simple drum and bass track on top. It wasn't too bad at all. She emailed Annie, mentioning that she'd finished the first of her demos off.

She sat in on a studio session for the remainder of the afternoon, this time it was an orchestral recording, so there was very little dialogue between the artists and producers, but there were techs everywhere due to the sheer volume of mics involved. Beca was fascinated by it, but stayed well out of the way, which seemed to be appreciated by the two men actually producing the track. It wasn't that they resented her being there, or minded at all, but it looked incredibly complicated and she didn't want to complicate it further.

When she got home she mentioned to Aubrey while they were waiting for the coffee maker that she'd finished the track she'd been working on, and asked her if she wanted to hear it. The blonde was always eager to hear what Beca had been working on, so Beca cued it up for her. Aubrey was impressed. Very impressed. And given that she had heard most of Beca's work, still being impressed by this particular song was saying something.

"It's just a demo," Beca said. "It'll probably sound nothing like that by the time some artist gets done with it."

"You seriously wrote that all by yourself?" Aubrey asked. "It wasn't a collaboration or anything?" They'd forgotten all about the coffee at this point.

"Nope," Beca said. "All me. Today I changed it from three-four to six-eight and it all made perfect sense."

"I think it's probably the best piece of music I've heard you write," Aubrey said honestly. "I could hear this on the radio."

"I emailed Annie to let her know it was done," Beca said. "I've got a few other ideas that might turn into parts of songs or something."

"Your brain is kind of incredible," Aubrey said, sliding her arms around the brunette. "It never gets old watching you make music. I'm really glad you've got this job where you get to do what you love." Beca met her lips tenderly.

"Yeah, me too," Beca said. "I'm really lucky."

"I don't know about lucky," Aubrey said. "You worked really hard for this." Beca's hands were sliding up the back of her shirt.

"Well all the best things take work," Beca said. "I mean, just look at us. We had to work really hard at staying communicative and stuff while we lived apart. And that was worth it, too." Aubrey tilted her neck to one side as Beca kissed her way down it.

"There isn't much I wouldn't do to keep us together," Aubrey said before she fused their lips together.

"Me either," Beca said against her mouth. "Because I love you more than anything."

"So that song you wrote was about us?" Aubrey asked. Beca chuckled quietly.

"Yep," she said. "About how it feels when you to touch me." That was enough for Aubrey to move them toward the bedroom.

The next day Annalise called Beca to see if she was free for a quick chat. Beca said she was just working on a few things and she could stop by any time. She came down almost straight away.

"Want to go get some coffee?" Annalise said. Beca figured this was a good sign. Normally the bad stuff wouldn't be a walk and talk kind of deal, it was normally a come to my office and sit down kind of deal. She nodded and grabbed some cash, sticking it in her wallet, and locked the office behind her.

"You haven't changed much in there," Annalise said, jerking her head toward the locked door.

"Not much needed changing," Beca said. "I've got a friend doing some artwork for the walls for me. And there's the coffee machine. But other than that, I'm happy with everything the way it is."

"Great," Annie said. "So this track you sent me. Got any more?"

"Working on four," Beca said. "I'm not sure how long it'll be."

"The one you sent me is really good," Annie said. "It's good like, if someone sent that on a demo reel to A&M we'd be calling them right now."

"Thanks," Beca said.

"Ted Shepherd wanted me to make sure you were one hundred percent serious about not recording some stuff yourself," Annie said. "He's convinced you've got an incredibly marketable talent here." They ordered their coffee and waited until they'd gotten it before they continued the conversation.

"Tell him I'm very flattered," Beca said. "But I've got too much to learn about the other stuff at the moment, and... Ugh. I'm trying to make this not sound dicky. But I already know I can sing. I've got four national titles that tell me that. I have so much that I don't know about inside a studio, that I need practice in. So like I said last time, I might re-evaluate that somewhere down the track, but not right now, no thanks." Annalise just nodded.

"I can appreciate that," she said. "And I also like that you're not disputing that you have the talent to record some songs."

"I'm not stupid enough to try and deny that," Beca said. "Especially to you."

"So I know I said I'd be able to get you into a room with Jack Antonoff," Annie continued. "And I'm going to make that happen. But what if I say, wanted to send you to LA for a few days?"

"First I'd ask what's in LA?" Beca asked. "I'm not really interested in moving to California."

"No, nothing dramatic like that," Annie said. "There's another songwriter slash singer slash insanely talented motherfucker we're going to set you up with and it's a pretty big deal."

"Who?"

"Sia." Beca almost spat her coffee out and choked for a second swallowing it down.

"Sorry," Beca said. "Did you just fucking say that you want to set me up for some songwriting time with Sia?"

"I did," Annie said. "Look, you've done some really fucking great work in a very short time. Jason says you're a pro behind the desk and you can wring better sounds out of an arrangement that just about any producer he's heard. If you've got any weak points it's probably the tech knowledge, but that's not even a concern."

"This is bizarro-world," Beca said. "What the fuck is even happening?"

"I know it seems like we're throwing a lot at you," Annie said. "It's called protecting the investment. Because Epic is going to provide you not just with fancy celebrity meetups, Beca, we want to help you build your career. And by giving you as much as we can, we can expect the same back."

"You're going to get it," Beca promised. "New York actually was not in my plan, Los Angeles was. But this happened, and Aubrey was here, and then the UN wanted her to stay and yeah, I love this city. Shit with Peter aside, it's a pretty great place. So as long as you guys don't mind me hanging around for a really long time, I'm not planning on going anywhere."

"That's good to hear," Annalise said. "Sia's heard about you from Jason. So you'll go to LA?"

"To work with Sia, I'd fly to a cornfield in the middle of nowhere," Beca said. "When do I go?"

"Monday, flying back Thursday," Annalise said. "I'll email you the itinerary. Epic pays for everything, hotel, food etcetera. Don't go too crazy though. Any out of hours shopping is your dime."

"I'm not much of a shopper," Beca said. "And man, I'm really thankful for this opportunity."

"You know, sometimes I think you underestimate just how good you are," Annie said. "Tali tells me you sat in on their recording yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"And you kind of muttered to yourself that the one of the cellos was a fraction sharp," Annie said. "You were right, and they sorted it out. But there were forty instruments in there, Beca. You picked one from forty, and it was just the smallest fraction sharp. The techs were happy to let it go."

"Really?"

"You can sing and arrange and write and somehow you read Sara's mind and can get music to sound exactly the way an artist wants," Annie said. "We don't come across talent like that often."

"Annie, you keep feeding my ego like this and I'm not going to make it through the door."

"Alright, I'll tone it down. You're good Mitchell. And we wanna keep you."

"You will," Beca said. "And I'm down for LA, I know Aubrey would kill me if I didn't accept that offer."

"Excellent," she said. "Head back?"

"Sure," Beca said. "So should I prepare some stuff or just spitball ideas?"

"Both," Annie said.

"Can I ask you a question?" Beca asked after a few moments silence.

"Shoot."

"Why are you telling me this and not Ted? Or Marcus, or anyone else. You're the department head," Beca said.

"The beauty of being the boss," Annie said with a grin, "Is that I get to cherry pick artists. You tickle me. So as far as artist development goes, I'm your guru." That seemed fair. Then the brunette remembered she wanted to ask about how one even applied to the graduate program.

"Oh," Beca said. "I can live with that. I have another question and I want to make it clear that I'm not looking for favors or special treatment."

"This sounds interesting," Annie said.

"I have a friend who I think would be a good match for the grad program," Beca said. "PR and management. We were in college together. She's smart, hardworking, knows her shit, did all of my PR during college. You guys headhunted me, so I guess I was curious as to what the process was for applying for the grad program."

"She was your PR?" Annie asked.

"Yeah," Beca said with a shrug. "I played a lot of clubs and stuff, a lot of them I never would have heard of without her. And she helped me get some of my songs played on radio around Atlanta."

"Sounds interesting," Annie said. "I can't promise that your friend's career trajectory is going to be anything like yours, but the application is on the website. Pass me her details and I'll make sure I review it myself."

"She doesn't want me to like, drop my name and influence anything," Beca said. "She was just interested in applying."

"Here's a business tip," Annie said, tossing her cup in the trash. "This business really revolves on who you know. And your friend - "

"Cynthia Rose. Or CR."

"CR knows you," Annie said. "That opens doors on its own. But think about it from this point of view - we headhunted you. Which means we heard about you somewhere. And if she was the one handling your press and management stuff, then she's the one who made you visible to us."

"Oh," Beca said. "Yeah, I guess that's true. She was the one pimping out the YouTube channel for the Bellas, and talking to club managers and radio stations for my shit."

"So when her application hits Marcus, he'll let me take a look," Annie said. "She was a Bella?"

"Oh god, Annie, her voice is liquid gold," Beca said. "Soulful and hot."

"Damn, Mitchell, is she a friend or something else?" Annie laughed.

"Dude," Beca said, "Not like that. But she is my best friend in the entire world and I'm not lying about her voice."

"Get me her details and I'll get her looked at for next academic intake," Annie said before they parted ways. Beca headed back to her office and immediately called Aubrey. She was wondering how things could possibly get any better for her right now.

"Hello?" came her girlfriend's voice.

"Hey," Beca said. "Got a minute to talk?"

"Yeah, I was just doing some paperwork," Aubrey said. "What's up?"

"Um, Epic is sending me to LA for four days next week," Beca said. "Take a guess what I'm doing."

"Sleeping somewhere that isn't our bed," Aubrey said in a fake-sad voice. Then she switched tones. "What?"

"Songwriting workshop," Beca said. "Now ask me who with."

"Didn't they something about Jack Antonoff?" Aubrey responded.

"Um, that's still happening, but get this, they've got me booked in with Sia," Beca said excitedly.

"Holy shit," Aubrey said. "Seriously?!"

"Seriously," Beca said. "I can't fucking believe it."

"Well, as much as it sucks to think about you not being here, I'm super excited for you," Aubrey said. "That sounds incredible."

"Yeah, Annie and I had a bit of a chat this morning," Beca said. "It was a little weird. She said she's basically taking a personal interest in me while I'm at Epic and that she wants me to build a long career here."

"That's good to hear," Aubrey said.

"Then I asked her randomly about CR and the grad program," Beca said. "She said to get her to apply and she'd personally take a look."

"That's good news, too," Aubrey said.

"Yeah, I mean, I said that CR didn't want any strings pulled," Beca said. "But Annie made a valid point. She said that Epic headhunted me, and if CR was the one responsible for my exposure, then she was definitely interested in her."

"That is a solid line of reasoning," Aubrey said. "You gonna tell her?"

"I'm going to tell her to apply," Beca said. "But I don't want to like, make her feel like she wouldn't be enough to get through on her own merit. Because she's awesome on her own. Maybe I'll explain it the way she did."

"She'll get it if you say it that way," Aubrey said. "I'm still trying to handle the fact that you're going to be with Sia this time next week."

"You can't handle it? I can't handle it," Beca said. "It's pure insanity. I'm probably going to burst out of my skin at some point during the week thinking about this. What about you, how's your day going?"

"I start working with my new team tomorrow," Aubrey said. "They've given me the day to tie up or pass along anything else I had outstanding for other departments."

"That's cool, have you met any of them?"

"Just the two who head the department," Aubrey said. "Terry and Lisa. There are five others though."

"Do you relocate in your building?" Beca asked.

"Yeah, I move across the courtyard," Aubrey replied. "Apparently there's more room, too. Anyway, I should probably finish this off. But I love you."

"Yeah, I love you, too," Beca said. She hung up and spent a few minutes on the company website looking for the application for the grad program. Then she emailed the link to Cynthia Rose, following it up with a text asking her to call when she could. She called about an hour later.

"Hey B, what's up?" CR said.

"A lot," Beca said. "But I emailed you the link to the grad program application."

"Oh sweet," CR replied.

"I mentioned it in conversation today, and Annie said she's interested," Beca said. "I know you didn't want me to pull strings but she made a very logical point."

"Which was what?"

"Well, they headhunted me for the grad program, and Annie said that without you pimping out YouTube for the Bellas, and making calls and negotiating to get me into clubs, they never would have even heard about me," Beca explained. "She's interested because you're the one who put me on their radar. That's a good sign, dude."

"Awesome," CR said. "I'm not going to get too far ahead of myself, but I appreciate that, Beca."

"You're my best friend, CR, I'd love to have you out here with me," Beca said. "Now for the exciting part - guess which former Bella is going to be in Los Angeles next week writing songs with Sia?"

"You're shitting me," CR said. "No way. The actual Sia!?"

"I know," Beca said. "I almost spat my coffee all over Annie."

"She's the shit," CR said. "Man, she's written for everybody under the sun, dude, and you're going to be working with her?"

"Four days of songwriting," Beca said. "I'm losing my mind. I don't know how I'm expected to get any more work done. You guys still looking at coming up after Christmas?"

"Yeah, let's switch it to just after the New Year, though," Cynthia Rose said. "Last minute invitation to spend the holiday with Nat's family. Apparently all her siblings are going home so it'd be nice to have us as well."

"Sure, just let me know," Beca said. "I think Bree and I might go away for a couple of days anyway. I know she's not required at work between Christmas and New Years so may as well make it in there sometime. She wants to go to Hawaii."

"You ever been?"

"Nope, but I'll start checking it out tonight," Beca said. "Make sure you let me know if you need a hand with that application, though, okay?"

"I will, B, thanks." They ended the call and Beca figured she probably did need to attempt to get some work done at some point during the day, so she booted up both of her computers and grabbed out a notepad. If she was going to be meeting Sia the next week, there was no way she was walking into that office with nothing to show.


	17. Chapter 17

Aubrey saw Beca off on Monday morning, waiting until the car service picked her up. After the driver had helped her with her bag, Aubrey pulled her in and kissed her deeply, needing something to get her through the next few days.

"Let me know when you land," Aubrey said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Beca said. Aubrey could tell she was nervous.

"Don't be nervous," Aubrey said. "You're amazing, and they wouldn't be sending you off for this kind of opportunity if they didn't think you weren't capable of it."

"You're right," Beca said. "Thanks." She quickly pecked Aubrey on the cheek and got into the car. Aubrey watched as it pulled into traffic and then headed in the opposite direction.

She chose a seat on the subway near the familiar faces she saw every day, nodding to a few. The ride was uneventful, as was the walk from her stop to work. She greeted the two uniformed people working the metal detectors that manned the entrance into the working areas of the building and headed for her work area.

Since she'd changed departments, there was a drastic increase in her workspace. In the general legal pen they'd pretty much been elbow to elbow, but now they were quite spread out, with enough room to breathe and work without invading each other's spaces.

She was still figuring out exactly where she fit in this new team. She was one of six working under the two team chiefs, and the other five had been part of the team for a much longer time. They were very welcoming though, and on her first day they had all mentioned at some point that they'd read her work on child labor so far and were impressed.

They were compiling data at the moment, hoping to present an improvement in child quality of life in parts of Asia. Many of her old law school colleagues would scoff at so much data and so little litigation, but Aubrey enjoyed it. She liked concrete facts and figures.

She was so engrossed in her days work that she didn't hear her phone ringing with Beca calling until one of her colleagues pointed it out. She apologized and picked it up.

"Hey," she said. "How was the flight?"

"Kinda bumpy at the start," Beca said. "But fine. I'm in the car on my way to the hotel."

"Okay," Aubrey said. "Call me later so I can hear all about Sia and what you guys get up to."

"What is it like a three hour time difference?" Beca asked.

"Yeah," Aubrey said. "But I don't care how late it is, I want you to call."

"I will. I love you," Beca said.

"Love you too," Aubrey replied and hung up.

"Boyfriend?" her closest colleague asked. Lauren was a woman on the younger side of thirty.

"Girlfriend," she said. "Beca flew to LA this morning for work."

"What does she do?"

"She's a producer/engineer and songwriter for Epic Records," Aubrey said with a tone of pride.

"Seriously?" one of the others chimed in.

"Yeah, seriously," Aubrey said.

"How long have you guys been together?" Lauren asked.

"About four years," Aubrey said. "We were in college together, but she was a freshman my senior year."

"We should do team dinner soon," one of the guys suggested. "We all already know each other's families, but we should meet Beca."

"That'd be nice," Aubrey said. She smiled to herself.

When she got home that night, it was then that she realized how much she was going to miss Beca. It was only a few days, but they hadn't been apart overnight since she was in hospital. After taking a quick shower and making some quick dinner, she settled down on the couch with a glass of red and some reading, waiting for Beca's call. She ended up calling a little after ten.

"Hello?" Aubrey said.

"Hey," came Beca's voice. "Is it too late?"

"It's never too late to hear your voice," Aubrey said. "How has your day been?"

"Really, really surreal," Beca said. "Sia writes very different to me, but it's going well."

"Different how?"

"Well, you know what I'm like. I like to hear it all in my head until I've got things sounding the way I want it. But she does it all out loud. It's an interesting process to watch," Beca said. "I played her the demo of that song I wrote."

"Oh yeah?"

"She loved it," Beca said. "She had some minor feedback about the arrangement, but she said it was pretty fucking rad."

"I'm glad it's going well," Aubrey said. "The people on my new team want to do dinner soon. They're all pretty tight and they want to meet you."

"I'd like that," Beca said. "I know we were planning on going out with some of your work mates before everything went to hell, so it'd be nice to see some people you work with in a social setting. How was your day?"

"Full of research and data," Aubrey said. "Nothing super exciting. I just miss you."

"Yeah, I miss you too," Beca said. "I'm back at the hotel and I'm looking at this bed and all I can think is that it's not our bed."

"And I'm on the couch but I know when I go to bed it'll be empty without you there," Aubrey said. "But it's only a couple of days."

"It's weird," Beca said. "This was the dream for so long. LA. But now the dream is New York and that apartment with you."

"I love you, Beca."

"Yeah, I love you too," her girlfriend responded. "I know it's getting late there so I'll let you sleep. But I'll call you again tomorrow."

"Okay," Aubrey said. "Thanks for calling."

"Love you," Beca said again, hanging up. Aubrey got up and turned the lights off before going into the bedroom. She got into the bed and rolled over into her normal position, though she was missing the form of Beca's body next to her. She sighed and reminded herself that this was an incredibly big deal for Beca, an unbelievable opportunity and she was happy for her. The phone on her bedside table buzzed.

_I love you, Bree._

She sent the same sentiment in response, smiled and was able to find sleep.

The next day she woke feeling like she hadn't slept very well, and took an extra long shower to remedy her bleariness. It threw her schedule off a little though, and instead of sitting down and eating breakfast, she stopped at a café she'd never tried before and bought a coffee and a muffin instead. The muffin was a little dry, but the coffee was good and she made a mental note to bring Beca back to it. Since they'd moved, they had to go through the entire process of whittling down the decent cafes and takeout places in the area.

After the coffee she felt much better and was ready to embrace the workday. She again greeted the uniformed officers who screened her on the way in, and ran into Lauren on her way down to the office. They stopped at the kitchenette to make more coffee before cracking open the same work they had been working on yesterday. Lauren was typing rapidly, converting the data in front of her into something someone might be able to read, as Aubrey read through additional documents, highlighting parts that were pertinent. She was snapped out of her work haze by her phone buzzing.

Aubrey picked it up and saw a picture message from Beca. She opened it. It was a picture of Sia singing, headphones on and eyes closed. The caption just said 'I HAVE GOOSEBUMPS.'

She smiled. Beca would be in heaven right now. She quickly tapped back a row of heart emojis and put her phone back down.

"Aubrey?" asked Terry.

"Yes?" she replied, looking up to her unit chief's face.

"Got a minute?" Aubrey got up and followed him into his small office. He didn't bother closing the door, so Aubrey knew nothing was wrong.

"You ever sat in on the proceedings here?" he asked. Aubrey shook her head. She'd done plenty of legal research and she'd seen the rooms where everyone met but had never been present for a general assembly.

"We're going to get you to come to a few," Terry said. "See what it's like. After the new year you and Kyle are coming to Geneva."

"Seriously!?" Aubrey said.

"Yeah. The team is attending some conference talks and your brief is going to be part of the package we present. It's only fitting."

"Wow," Aubrey said. "Thank you."

"Let me ask you, was this always your focus when you considered a career with the UN?"

"No, not at all," Aubrey said. "To be honest, I was intending on practicing litigation. But a professor actually recommended the UN and I applied, thinking it would be a dream job but hey, why not? And then I was enjoying working here in general but I guess this just became something that I found myself inexplicably passionate about."

"This wasn't your area of interest?"

"No, but it is now. Don't get me wrong, some of the stuff I'm reading is truly horrifying but I enjoy it, and I think we can make a real difference," she said.

"Good," he said. "You did some good work on that brief, Aubrey. Clear, concise and you kept emotions out of it, which can be hard but it's important. Geneva is probably the last week in January, so keep it free."

"I will, thanks," she said. Once Terry had left, she tugged out her phone and texted Beca.

_Call when you're free I have exciting news._

It was about an hour later that her phone actually rang, and her face broke out into a wide grin seeing her girlfriend's face on her screen.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," Beca said.

"How's your day going?"

"This is insane," Beca said. "This feels like it shouldn't be my life. But it's really, really cool and I'm so grateful to be here, Bree. This is massive. But you said you had really great news so let's talk about you."

"My unit chief stopped by to talk," Aubrey said. "They're definitely including my brief as part of the package they're presenting to the International Labor Council in Geneva and they want me to go."

"No way!" Beca said. "Bree that's amazing!"

"I know. It'll be the end of January, but it's a really big deal," Aubrey said.

"Well after I get home we should make sure we celebrate properly," Beca said. "You're so incredible."

"I miss you."

"I miss you too," Beca said. "But it's a few days and I'll be home soon. You doing okay?"

"Yeah I guess," Aubrey said. "I'll be fine."

"I'll call you after work tonight," Beca said. "I promise."

"Good, I'll wait up." There was a muffled sound at Beca's end.

"Sia also says hey," Beca said.

"Oh," Aubrey said, surprised. "Tell her hey and tell her she better be taking care of you." Beca relayed the message and Aubrey could hear Sia's broad accent as she called out that she totally was and not to worry.

"Love you," Aubrey said.

"Love you too." Aubrey returned to the dataset in front of her and immersed herself back in her work.

When she got home that evening, toting some takeout from their favorite Thai place, she poured a glass of red and ate on the couch. It was starting to get cool now, so she tugged a throw out and curled up on the couch. To kill time she called Chloe.

She learned that the redhead and Noah, the guy from her med school class, were actually getting along really well and the relationship felt solid. She was glad for her best friend, because Chloe deserved someone to make her feel as good as she made others feel. Chloe was always the one to take care of everyone else and Aubrey was happy to hear Noah was taking care of her.

Med school was almost over as well, and she and Noah were studying hard and getting ready to take their boards. Aubrey told her if she could tear herself away from the books sometime soon to come visit. She also told her about her work related news, and then Beca's, which she understandably flipped out about.

It was a good, long conversation, something that Aubrey could admit she missed since they didn't see each other every day. But with Chloe it was like no time had passed every time they spoke. Toward the end of the call, Chloe did ask one question that threw her off a little bit.

"So she hasn't proposed yet?"

"What?" Aubrey asked. "No. We've talked about it, Chlo, but we aren't in a hurry."

"You've talked about it?" Chloe said.

"Of course," Aubrey said. "We're both sure that marriage is the end goal here, but we have time. We're just getting started in our careers and stuff. If she came home and proposed today of course I'd say yes but that's a little way away yet. What brought that on?"

"Oh, just something one of the little shit first year students said. She implied I was getting old and should hurry up and settle down, but if you guys aren't thinking about it at four years, I probably shouldn't worry."

"Chlo. Don't be silly. Don't forget, Beca is three years younger than me as well," Aubrey said. "You're not old, Christ."

"I think I knew that but it's better hearing it from someone else."

"Well I'll be glad to remind you of that any time," Aubrey said. "Let me know if you and Noah can make it up?"

"Sure. Love you Bree."

"Love you too Chlo." She flicked the television on and sat through an episode of Greys Anatomy before she got Beca's call.

"Hey," she said happily.

"Hello, beautiful," Beca replied. "How was the rest of your day?"

"Fine," Aubrey said. "I called Chloe for a catch up today. She and Noah might try and come and visit sometime soon."

"That'd be great, I miss Chlo," Beca said.

"What about you? Write any chart topping hits?"

"Uh, maybe," Beca said thoughtfully. "We've got a couple of outlines here that could be really great with some work, and she's happy to let me take them back to studio."

"What's she like?" Aubrey asked.

"Exactly like the interviews you've seen," Beca said. "Little kooky, but knows her shit on the most insane level. She doesn't hold back either, doesn't pull a punch. It's very different from working with Sara but still really incredible. I'm kind of realizing that even when I'm forming an idea, it's okay to let all of it out and not keep everything so in my head."

"So be out loud a bit more?"

"Yeah, a little. It's been really interesting. She walked me through how she came up with a couple of her massive songs, and then we kind of just started making noise."

"Chloe was insanely jealous," Aubrey said.

"Sometimes when she's going off and riffing I just can't even believe I'm here," Beca said. "And the fact that she's treating me like and equal like I'm remotely anything close to the same caliber as her is baffling."

"Sounds like she's pretty cool."

"Oh she's rad. Swears like a sailor. And her dogs are cute, they're always around somewhere. But honestly, once I get back here to the hotel, I miss being in New York with you. It's home."

"I miss you too," Aubrey said. "Ugh, we are ridiculous."

"No, adorable," Beca said.

"Oh my god, Beca Mitchell, you just voluntarily used the adjective adorable to describe yourself," Aubrey laughed.

"Aw shit," Beca said. "Look what you've gone and done to me Posen, I'm getting soft."

"You always were with me," Aubrey said.

"Yeah, probably," Beca said. "I love you, you know? Probably had something to do with it."

"I love you too," Aubrey said. "Call me tomorrow?"

"Hell yes," Beca replied. She hung up and Aubrey began to get ready for bed.

The next day went pretty much the same as the other two, work and speaking to Beca. But after she'd hung up for the night, Aubrey was comforted by the fact that Beca would be home the next afternoon.

Indeed, when she arrived home from work the next evening, Beca was already there and unpacked, waiting with a glass of wine and dinner on the way. She pulled the smaller girl into her arms and held her for a few long moments before kissing her soundly.

"I'm glad you're home," she said.

"Me too," Beca said, kissing her gently again. Then she handed her the wine. "Dinner in about twenty so you can fit a quick shower in if you want."

"Wanna come with me?" Aubrey asked.

"If I do that, the shower will be going much longer than twenty minutes," Beca said. "Food and relaxing and enjoying just being together first, mind blowing I-missed-you sex later." Aubrey pouted, so Beca kissed her jutted out lips and sent her on her way.

Beca ended up being right. After they'd finished their dinner they curled up under the throw, Aubrey in Beca's arms and just happily sat there for a while, happy to be reunited, even if they weren't apart for long. And after they had finished having their mind blowing I-missed-you sex, Aubrey curled back into Beca's body, pressing soft kisses along her collarbone.

"On the weekend we should book our trip away," Beca said.

"And we need a few more things around the house," Aubrey said. "Well, when I say we need, I mean I'd like."

"Yeah okay," Beca said. "I don't know if it got colder when I was gone or if I'm just feeling it more because LA was still really warm." She got out of bed to grab their clothes and they redressed hurriedly so they could warm up.

"Both probably," Aubrey said. "I think it's going to snow soon."

"Oh cool," Beca said. "My first full winter here. Shit I'm gonna need new boots."

"We can look on the weekend," Aubrey said. "I'm never going to turn down shopping." Beca tugged Aubrey's arm back over her.

"And I don't care what I'm doing, as long as I'm with you." Aubrey kissed her once more and pulled her arm tighter around her.


	18. Chapter 18

Over the weekend they managed to get their shopping done, Aubrey picking out the last few things she'd been imagining to make the new apartment complete, and Beca buying a more substantial winter wardrobe. She had spent time with Aubrey in winter before, even over the holidays, but they were never long occasions. Now that she was residing in the city she needed to be able to cope with the cold a bit better.

They also sat down and booked a vacation. They decided to take not four, but eight days to themselves, booking a resort in Hawaii as their present to each other. Beca was excited, a getaway sounded perfect to her. Especially with both of their jobs keeping them so exceedingly busy and the other dramas, getting away and just being alone was going to be a dream come true.

Beca showed Aubrey what she'd worked on with Sia, and Aubrey was beyond impressed. But mroeso than that, she was completely infatuated with listening to Beca talk about the experience, seeing her face light up as she did so. She looked so happy, and as a result, more beautiful than ever.

"I did do the fangirl thing once," Beca said. "I told her to just let me get it out of my system, and she did, then she called me cute and we got back to work. The only part I didn't like is that you weren't there with me, Bree."

"But that's okay," Aubrey said. "I'm sure I'll feel the same in Geneva. I'm so excited about that. And Terry has been saying really encouraging things, and it makes me feel really positive about the work I'm doing."

"Remind me to call CR at some point so I can tell her when she and Nat can come up and visit," Beca said. "Also, I wanted to check and see how she's going with her grad program stuff."

"Yeah, how nice would it be if she ended up here too?" Aubrey said. "I know you miss her."

"She's like family to me," Beca said with a shrug. Beca called Cynthia Rose Sunday afternoon to catch up. Cynthia Rose was still planning on coming to New York with Natalie shortly after New Years, so Beca told her what date she and Aubrey would be back in town after their vacation. She also said she'd filled out the grad program application but was finding it hard to word things so that she didn't sound conceited.

"Okay," Beca said. "Annie is going to be the one reading your application and that's good because I know her. She appreciates honesty, CR. Don't try and downplay your abilities to seem humble."

"Serious?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "Like this dude Ted keeps asking me if I want to record my own stuff and be an actual artist, but I told her that I already know I can sing, that's not what my goal is. And she flat out said that she appreciated that I didn't try and deny it."

"Back up, someone at Epic thinks you're good enough to release your shit and you said no?" Cynthia Rose said.

"I respectfully declined but said if the correct opportunity came up down the track I would reconsider," Beca said. "I need to do this first CR, this is the dream."

"I feel you," she said. "Tell me more about Sia though, that had to have been like some bizarre fantasy." Beca told her about their four days together and how much she'd learned, the things they'd worked on, and just what the experience was like in general.

"Damn, Epic are loving you," CR said. "Sara, Sia, Jack Antonoff coming up."

"Yeah," Beca said. "It's amazing. Tell me about you and Natalie."

"Oh, it's for real," Cynthia Rose said. "Like, we've talked about some pretty heavy duty stuff now. I mean, if I do get into the grad program and have to relocate to New York, she's coming with me, and we had to really hash that out. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to uproot everything and come with me if I wasn't serious, you know?"

"I know," Beca said. "So you mean like, forever long term?"

"We have talked about that, yeah," CR said. "And we don't want to jump the gun but we both feel like this could be the real thing. So there's an understanding that there'll be a ring at some point, but that's a way off yet."

"That's good, dude," Beca said. "Glad to hear it."

"What about you and Aubrey? Rings?"

"Not yet," Beca said. "Like you guys, it's a dead certainty, but at the present minute both of us are just happy to be with each other and smashing through work. Did I tell you she's going to Geneva at the end of January for work?"

"No," Cynthia Rose said. "What's in Geneva?" Beca filled her in on Aubrey's paper and then her subsequent transfer, and then the offer to travel with the rest of her team.

"But she always was the smartest person I knew," Cynthia Rose said. "And damn if she didn't work her ass off for it."

"I know," Beca said. "I'm so proud of her, probably prouder than what I am of my own work." They chatted for a while longer and then Cynthia Rose admitted she had to go because she and Natalie were going out, promising to let her know when they'd be in town. Beca hung up happy. She really hoped CR got into the grad program because she missed having her best friend around. She wasn't close to many people but CR was right there behind Aubrey.

"How's CR?" Aubrey asked as Beca made her way into the living room. The blonde had her laptop with her

"Really good," Beca said, dropping down next to her. "Hey Bree?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you miss not having Chloe around?" Beca asked. "Because I miss CR a lot, and you guys have been tight for a hell of a lot longer than me and her."

"I do," Aubrey said. "But we also have been apart for years now. It gets easier, because you trust the friendship enough to realise that even if you don't see each other or speak for a while, when you do it'll be like you were never apart." Beca smiled at her and leaned over to kiss her.

"I love you," Beca said.

"I love you, too," Aubrey said.

"Let me take you out to dinner tonight?" Beca said. "We still have a whole bunch of places to try out around here."

"Sure," Aubrey said. "I'm pretty much done here, I was just going over some stuff to kill time while you were on the phone." Beca kissed her again, Aubrey's hand coming to tug lightly at her shirt so she fell against her. Beca used her hands to break her fall as they landed against the couch.

"Hi," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"Hi," Aubrey said in a distinctly different tone. Their lips met again and Aubrey's arm was around her waist, pulling her in tightly as her tongue curled into her mouth. One of Beca's hands shifted into Aubrey's hair and then her fingers traced down the side of her face. They refused to break apart, engrossed in the embrace. Beca let her knee make its way in between Aubrey's legs, and the blonde's teeth dug into her lower lip, her hands bracketing Beca's ribs tenderly.

"Do I tell you enough how gorgeous I think you are?" Aubrey whispered. Beca pulled back a little. "I know you tell me all the time how beautiful you think I am, but I don't ever want you to doubt that I feel that way about you, Beca."

"What brought this on?" Beca asked.

"I was just thinking about all the reasons why I love you, and it just suddenly struck me that I probably don't verbalise that enough," Aubrey said. "I love you, Beca, and I think you're more beautiful with every day."

"I love you too," Beca said. "And I don't doubt it at all, Bree." Aubrey let a finger trace Beca's lip before she leaned up and kissed her again.

"I'm glad," Aubrey said. Beca left another lingering kiss on her lips and then leaned her head down onto her girlfriend's shoulder, Aubrey's arms coming to wrap around her waist. They stayed like that for a few moments, just enjoying the quiet and intimacy, before Beca got up. She tugged Aubrey's hand and led her toward the bathroom.

Despite the fact that they had been making out pretty heatedly before, they were both happy not to escalate it while they showered together. They spent a little time kissing under the warm spray, hands moving to soap each other down, before they rinsed off and got out.

The weather was getting pretty damned cold now, so they dressed warmly and headed toward where most of the restaurants were located near their place. They didn't really have a plan, just to check out what looked good and see who had a free table. They ended up at a Spanish place, where the staff were friendly and welcoming, and the food was impressive. They declared it one to remember and since it was quite dark and even colder than before, they called a cab to take them back to their place.

Once they were home, Beca made them both coffee and they changed into warmer pajamas, snuggling into the couch with Grey's Anatomy playing quietly. Beca thought Aubrey looked just as beautiful in her oversized sweater as she did in the clothes and makeup she'd worn out to dinner.

"What are you staring at?" Aubrey asked.

"You're super pretty," Beca shrugged. "Sometimes I just can't help it."

"You're being very cute," Aubrey said. Beca rolled her eyes and Aubrey laughed at her. They finished off their coffee and headed to bed, braving the cold enough to strip each other off as they pulled the covers up and warmed themselves in each other's limbs.

The next morning Aubrey was up before Beca, as usual, but midway through her shower, she heard the brunette getting in behind her. She felt Beca's arm sliding across her torso and lips moving across the back of her shoulder.

"Feeling frisky this morning?" Aubrey asked, meeting her in a kiss.

"Firstly, yes, always, because you're gorgeous," Beca said. "Second I regret my decision not to put my pants back on last night because I woke up with a cold ass."

"I offered to get them for you," Aubrey said.

"I know," Beca said. "But I didn't, and yes I regret it now. So I'm crashing your shower. I promise no funny business, I was just cold."

"Hey, I've got time for a little funny business," Aubrey said. Beca raised a still sleepy eyebrow at her and leaned in again.

They ended up getting out of the shower a little later than Aubrey normally would, but Beca offered to make up the time by making the coffee once she was dressed. Aubrey accepted and they both went about their morning routines. Once they were done, they took their travel mugs of coffee with them, walking down toward the subway where they would have to split paths.

"Pretty soon it's going to be snowing and we'll barely make it this far," Aubrey said. "Love you."

"Love you, too," Beca said, kissing her quickly before they separated.

Aubrey boarded her train and sat near the same people she always did. It was a nice little patch of familiarity in the big city, seeing the same faces and suits and overcoats on any given day. She leaned back in her seat and soon found a man slightly older than her settling into the seat opposite the aisle from her. He was familiar to her.

"You look happy today," he said casually.

"Sorry?" Aubrey said.

"You look happy," he said. "We travel in this car most days together. You just seem happier than normal."

"Oh," Aubrey said. She was a little taken aback, wondering how often this man watched her during the morning commute.

"You look beautiful when you smile," he said. Aubrey felt a little uncomfortable now. There were two women sitting side by side behind him, and at his most recent remark they both looked up and shot a glance at Aubrey to see if this was going to be a problem or not.

"Um, thank you," Aubrey said politely, then turned her attention away.

"I'd like to take you out sometime," he said. "See what it is that makes you smile."

"No, thank you," Aubrey said firmly. The women behind the man were still watching, as if they were on guard.

"Oh, come on," he said.

"She said no thank you," one of the women piped up. Aubrey nodded at them, but then added her own last statement.

"I'm smiling because I've just shared a great weekend with my girlfriend of over four years," she said pointedly. "And I don't know you, so I'd really appreciate it if you'd respect my saying no and let me enjoy my ride in silence." She leveled her best lawyer stare at him until he got uncomfortable and moved seats. Immediately, one of the women sitting behind got up and took his seat.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Fine," Aubrey said. "He left."

"I think he gets off soon," she added. "Where do you get off?"

"Grand Central 42nd," Aubrey said. "But I might just take a cab for a few days. And thank you. Both." She nodded to the woman behind.

"Hey, just watching out for other women," she said. The rest of the ride was uneventful, but Aubrey still called Beca as she made her way to her building.

"Hey," Beca said. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," Aubrey replied. "Just this guy on the train."

"What happened?" Beca asked, alarmed.

"No, he started by complimenting me, then asked me out and I said no because I have a girlfriend," Aubrey said. "He tried again and I shut him down, and so did these other two women sitting near us and he left, but I don't know, it just left me a little uneasy."

"But you're okay?" Beca asked. She still sounded worried.

"Yeah. I think I might just take a cab for a couple of days, though?" she said.

"If that's what you need to do to feel safe, Bree, do it," Beca said. "Want me to keep talking to you while you walk to work?"

"Yes," Aubrey said. So Beca kept talking to her, about nothing in particular, just things she wanted to do over Christmas and over their vacation. It did make Aubrey feel better by the time she reached her building.

"Thanks Beca," she said. "I feel a lot better now."

"I love you, Bree," she replied. "Call me later if you need to."

"I love you, too," Aubrey said. She was glad that she could put the morning's minor hiccup behind her.

Beca was just about to disembark her own train, and headed for Epic. She'd decided to break out the boots and winter jacket that morning, and was glad she did. It was colder now than she ever remembered it being on any of her winter visits to Aubrey while she finished school. She felt like it might even snow soon.

She stopped for coffee before she went in to work and headed for her office. She took her coat off and tossed it over the back of a chair before she settled at her desk. She checked her email straight up and saw that Annie had her booked in for afternoon sessions with Mike all week to get some better hands on time with the technical side of things, which she was keen for. Her mornings were all free to work on whatever she wanted.

She still had all the work she'd done with Sia to fine-tune, so she grabbed her headphones and got to work. As she listened to the arrangements again, she was still barely able to comprehend that she'd been there and heard Sia sing those vocals live. That these were ideas she'd worked on together, that their voices were on the same tracks.

She really didn't want to record over any of Sia's vocals - it seemed like sacrilege - but for the first track she was working on, she was going to have to. They'd talked about the arrangement on her last day in LA, and Beca had suggested switching the bridge into a different key and then again for the last part of the song, something Sia had liked because she said that it showed balls. So she fiddled around with the arrangement a bit and then called up to the studio level and asked if she could book in for some vocals the next day.

She changed to a different song and pulled out the notebook she'd been scribbling in. There wasn't too much that she didn't already love about the song, so she quickly polished up the track, adding a better bass and drum line, then saved it in a folder as ready to go.

She decided to have lunch early so she'd be on time for Mike, and emailed reception to expect her to be out of the office for the afternoon, but adding she'd check her messages before she left. They had five people working reception, and Beca had made a point to learn all of their names. They were good people and they pretty much made the difference between everyone's days running smoothly or not.

During her lunch she figured she might as well see if she could get ahold of Aubrey. When she got a hold of her Aubrey sounded like her day was going better than her morning had.

"Just working on a new paper with one of the others," Aubrey said. "Still data and information collection at this point but it might be something interesting."

"Interesting how?" Beca asked.

"Uh, we might be onto something regarding trafficking into Europe out of Asia," Aubrey said. "There's a possible pattern emerging."

"So what do you guys even do with that information?" Beca asked.

"Well we present it and then forward it to the relative people in Asia who can handle that, or depending on what we find, Interpol," Aubrey said. "But that's way above my pay grade."

"Holy shit," Beca said. "I guess I never thought about the bigger scope of your job until just now. That's pretty hardcore."

"I guess," Aubrey said. "It's a pretty good motivator to make sure I stay on top of things."

"I'll say," Beca said.

"Thanks for calling," Aubrey said. "I do feel better."

"Let's just stay in tonight, order something in," Beca said. "It's getting cold."

"Lisa thinks it's going to snow soon," Aubrey said. "Sounds like a good plan to me." They hung up and Aubrey decided it was a good time to have her own lunch. She got up and picked up her coat.

"Going out for lunch?" one of her colleagues asked. He was a quiet guy named Paul. Aubrey liked him.

"Yeah, if you want to come, I was going to go to that deli down the road," Aubrey said. "I'm a little in love with the pastrami sub."

"Oh, yeah," he said. "Give me thirty seconds and I'll come with. Lauren?"

"Yeah," Lauren said. "They have a great falafel one as well." Aubrey waited and the three of them went out together. It was a nice, easy afternoon. By the time she was done for the day and had called a cab she had completely forgotten about the morning's events.

Beca hadn't yet arrived home, so she took a shower and was just deciding what to order for dinner when she arrived home. She had a handful of menus in her hand, and Beca spotted them.

"Any requests?" Aubrey said.

"Chinese," Beca said. "That place with the good won tons." She kissed Aubrey quickly and headed for the shower. Aubrey smiled, not at anything in particular, just still enjoying the small domestic things she did with Beca every day, and picked up the phone to order dinner.


	19. Chapter 19

Before they knew it they were breaking from work for Christmas. Epic would be open over Christmas if people wanted to come in, but it was very much reduced to skeleton staff. There would be no admin, no tech assistants, and the grad program was off for two weeks. The UN was the same - very few people were actually required to be there, but people were welcome to come to work if they wanted.

Beca and Aubrey shopped together for what they were cooking Christmas Day, and took the opportunity to grab a few last minute things for their vacation as well. Aubrey had decided the two of them should pack before Christmas so they weren't worrying about it during the holiday, which Beca agreed with.

Once they toted it all home and unpacked it all, they relaxed. They didn't need to leave the house again until their flight out on the 27th if they didn't want to. They spent the two days before Christmas packing and double checking that everything would be good to go, stopping on Christmas Eve to watch the first snow of the season fall. It melted as soon as it hit the pavement, but it was still pretty to watch from the window, Aubrey wrapped around Beca from behind.

Even though they'd used the vacation as their gifts to one another, they still exchanged gifts the next day. Beca had bought Aubrey a new bag for work - something that was still stylish but could fit way more in than her normal purse. Aubrey had gotten Beca a set of headphones - they were pretty much exactly the same as the ones she already had but the younger woman had offhandedly remarked it might be nice to have a second set for the office so she didn't have to schlep them around.

They cooked together, calling family and friends to wish them Merry Christmas and shared a bottle of wine over lunch. It was pretty much the perfect day, ending in them wrapped in one another's limbs and buried under blankets. Beca was cuddled up against Aubrey, the blonde's eyes closed as Beca drew lightly on her shoulder with her fingertips. Aubrey was humming and Beca was just watching, fiercely in love with the woman in her arms and adoring her more the longer they lay there.

They chose just to relax the next day. They were all ready for their vacation to start the following morning, and Aubrey had emailed her dad with all their flight and travel information just in case. Beca loved how organized and prepared her girlfriend was.

They were sitting on the couch after dinner, not really watching television, snuggled under a blanket. Beca's phone chimed from its place on the coffee table. She saw it light up, and that it was just a Twitter notification, so she ignored it. But over the next ten minutes or so, her phone suddenly blew up. Twitter was going crazy and for some reason she was getting tagged in it all.

"What's going on?" Aubrey asked.

"No idea," Beca said. "I barely even use Twitter." She picked her phone up out of curiosity, and opened Twitter. The deluge of notifications didn't slow, and she found the source of her sudden online popularity.

"So Sara tweeted a link to this video Jeremy took of us goofing around in the studio," Beca said. "We were singing and playing piano together. And she put my Twitter handle in it so now I'm getting notifications every time someone favorites or retweets it." She handed her phone to Aubrey so she could watch the video.

"That's amazing," Aubrey said. "You guys sound really good together." She began scrolling so she could read the comments underneath the video.

"Bree, never read the comments," Beca said. "That's like, Internet 101."

"This video gives me life," Aubrey read. "Oh here's a good one. Who's the mega babe next to you Sara? With a bunch of heart eyes emoji."

"Get real," Beca said. Aubrey pointed to the screen and Beca saw she wasn't even teasing her. "Oh."

"Heaps of people want to know who you are," Aubrey said. Beca's phone was still getting a stream of notifications.

"I haven't even updated my Twitter in a thousand years," Beca said. "My last tweet was probably about the Bellas. Should I maybe at least update the bio and stuff so it's remotely professional?"

"That's probably a good idea," Aubrey said. "Especially if this keeps up."

"Oh god," Beca said as she opened the app. "My profile pic is me and Amy dressed like koalas. I don't even think I've got a decent one of me on my phone."

"I have plenty," Aubrey said, picking her own phone up. "I'll send you one."

Beca spent a few minutes making sure her Twitter profile wasn't going to be a public embarrassment, and watched as her follower count began to steadily increase. She couldn't believe this was even happening. Meanwhile, Aubrey had loaded the video up on her computer so she could read more of the comments. She was laughing at what she was reading.

"God Beca, some of these comments about you are hilarious," she said. "This chick needs to sit on my face. 10/10 would bang. Who's the pierced hottie? This is great stuff."

"Ew," Beca said. "No. Let's just never read them again. I've already got the girl of my dreams." Aubrey leaned over and kissed her.

"Yeah you do," she said cockily. "But so do I."

"And no weird YouTube comment is gonna change that for me," Beca said. She finished changing her Twitter settings so that her phone wouldn't keep going off every five seconds, she'd just get the tweets she wanted. Then she saw that Sara had tweeted again.

"Sara's album is dropping on the 16th," Beca said. "There'll be a launch party, obviously. And she already told me we're invited."

"Then I'm going to need to go dress shopping," Aubrey said almost triumphantly. Beca just raised an eyebrow. But she didn't mind because Aubrey would buy something mind bogglingly gorgeous and then she'd actually get to see her wearing it so it was win win.

"I think it's about time we head to bed," Beca said. "We've gotta be up early so we can organize ourselves to get to the airport." Their flight out wasn't at a completely ungodly hour but Aubrey hated leaving things to the last second so they were planning on getting there early.

"Your phone," Aubrey said. There was one more tweet from Sara.

_My duet partner is acapella ninja wizard and recording/engineer/total badass Beca Mitchell from Epic Records._

"Oh," Beca said. "Why do I feel like her dropping my name is about to change things big time?"

"It might do that," Aubrey said. "But you don't have to worry about it til we get back, Beca. Me, you, Hawaii. Epic and the UN can wait." Beca immediately saw a vision of her girlfriend in one of the impossibly small swimsuits she'd packed.

"Yeah," she said, leaning up and kissing her. "Everything can wait but this." She kissed her again, Aubrey's hand sliding around the back of her neck. They got up and made their way to the bedroom, Aubrey wasting no time in stripping off and pushing and almost-naked Beca on to the bed.

"The thing I'm looking forward to most about this vacation," Beca said as the blonde hovered over her body, "Is going to be you wearing very little clothes. Because people are gonna stare at you, and they can stare all they like and not one of them will ever get to be as lucky as me, because you're mine. Your beautiful face, your gorgeous body and all of the incredible things inside." Aubrey leaned down and kissed her deeply.

"I just can't wait to be alone with you on a gorgeous beach, cocktails in hand, kissing you hard…" Aubrey said, kissing her way down Beca's neck. Beca moaned as her lips grazed a particularly sensitive part of her neck, body bucking upward underneath.

"You can kiss me hard any time you like," Beca mumbled. That brought a smile to Aubrey's face and she went about doing just that.

The next day, Aubrey had them out of the house and en route to the airport with plenty of time to spare. She didn't want to be tripped up by any unforeseen issues, and Beca was more than happy to go along with it. The weather was starting to get miserable, after all, and if there were flight plans that needed to be altered, they would have more than enough time.

But their flight was still scheduled to leave on time, so once they had checked their bags, they simply wandered around hand in hand, before settling in for coffee and something light to eat before they boarded. Aubrey got a text from Chloe telling them to have fun, which she responded to. While she was texting her best friend back, Beca saw her phone light up with a text from Sara.

[Probably should have asked if it was okay to name drop you on YouTube. I'm so sorry!]

Beca smiled and texted her back.

[No, it's fine! Plus about to escape NY and head to Hawaii with Aubrey for a vacation, so the craziness will be over and done when I get back.]

[Rad! Have fun and you'll have an email waiting for you when you get back re: launch party.]

"That was just Sara," Beca said. "She said she was sorry for dropping my name on Twitter without checking first but I told her it was cool. Then she said she'd email me about the launch thing."

"Oh, okay," Aubrey said. Her hand snuck over and took Beca's.

"Hey," Beca said, squeezing her hand a little. Aubrey looked up.

"What?" Aubrey asked.

"I love you," Beca said. "I'm so glad we're taking a little time for ourselves." Aubrey leaned over and kissed her tenderly.

"I love you, too," she said.

They didn't have to wait too much longer to board their flight. Once they boarded the plane, Aubrey stowed their joint bag in the overhead and let Beca take the aisle seat. Beca preferred not looking out windows where possible, unless she was driving. When Aubrey was driving, Beca tended to go to sleep; there was something about the constant moving scenery that made her feel ill.

The flight was crowded but not completely full. They were alone in their group of three, which was nice, since it was a longish flight. Even though Beca was the one who felt ill during travel, Aubrey was the one who didn't like takeoff or landing, so Beca held her hand tightly during both.

The blast of warm, sticky air that greeted them as they exited the airport was glorious. They followed the rental car assistant to the car they'd booked for the next eight days. Beca had asked for some kind of sports car, but Aubrey had been sensible about it and gotten them something reliable that wasn't going to cost a million dollars in excess damage lest they have an accident.

Beca got behind the wheel as Aubrey navigated and they soon found their way to their hotel. The suite was big but not obnoxious, and it was more than enough for the two of them. The balcony looked out over the beach, and even though it looked like it was going to rain, neither of them could wait to get down there. So at Aubrey's suggestion, they ditched their New York appropriate clothing for something more suited to the hot and humid weather and headed down to the beachfront. They decided to take a walk first and foremost, up and down the beach that their hotel was located right next to.

"It's crazy," Aubrey said as they strolled hand in hand, ankle deep in the water. "Because it looks like the sky is going to split in two any second, but it's still insanely gorgeous." Beca looked up at the fat clouds that were hanging overhead. It did look like it would rain any second, but it was still a beautiful place. Everything was bright, and green and colorful, and even the storm clouds looked vibrant. Plus she was walking through clear waters with the most beautiful girl in the world, so she didn't really see how her life was going to get any better.

It began to rain as they were a little over halfway back, heavy, warm droplets relentlessly assaulting them. But there was nothing they could do about it, they'd be saturated regardless of whether they ran or walked back. So they took their time, Beca stopping to kiss Aubrey deeply, arms wrapping around her. The blonde didn't hesitate in the slightest in responding, pulling Beca as close as she could. She didn't care that the humidity and rain were killing her hair, soaking her shirt. She only cared that Beca was in her arms, kissing her like they were the only two people on the beach.

"I love you," Aubrey murmured against her lips. She rested her forehead against Beca's, the two of them standing there, arms wrapped around each other, happy to be locked in their private little moment.

It was perfect. Eight days of perfection. Sure, it rained from time to time. But it was mostly beaming hot sun, picturesque scenery and nothing much else at all. Lying on the beach together. Drinking cocktails at the bar. Driving up the coastline just to lie in the middle of nowhere and stare up at the sky. Sitting in each other's arms and looking out into the dark. Barely being out of each other's sight for a second.

New Years was a slightly hazy blur of dancing and drinks, some kind of luau with fantastic music. They'd counted down together, wrapped in each other's arms, some distance down the beach. As the fireworks tore across the night sky to herald in the beginning of the year, they were only focused on kissing each other and nothing more.

Beca wondered if they looked ridiculous to any of the other people around them. Because she was sure that she spent almost every waking moment fixated on Aubrey. She was always beautiful, back home wearing her business attire or lounging around in whatever she'd thrown on. But here with the sun giving her some kind of tanned glow, hair just thrown back and the smallest hint of hipbone peeking out from above her shorts, Beca was struck dumb over and over again.

She'd kiss Aubrey, let her hands wander, remind her just how much she loved her. And the blonde would reciprocate, the two of them often having to restrain themselves so they didn't get arrested for doing anything indecent in public. Even something that was supposed to be innocent, like Aubrey slathering suntan lotion on Beca's fair skin, turned into a heated embrace.

Eight days was not long enough, but they resolved that they would be back, definitely. For a longer trip next time. By the time they arrived back home, the weather in New York had turned horrible. They'd prepared for that by wearing jeans and carrying coats onto the plane. Beca didn't want to disembark, not wanting to ruin the magic of the holiday they'd taken, but as they slipped into the backseat of a taxi Aubrey had whispered that she was more in love with her today than any day before and even though the holiday was over, they were still ridiculously happy together. She was right, naturally, and Beca had kissed her, content and satisfied.

They got home and unpacked straight away, Aubrey being of the firm belief that if they didn't do it straight away, they wouldn't do it for days. Beca knew she was right, so they unpacked and set aside their dirty laundry to wash later. Aubrey wanted a hot shower next, but Beca was after coffee, so she put the machine on while Aubrey was in the bathroom.

Then they settled on the couch together. It was too early for dinner, so they just relaxed and checked in with those who would be expecting it. Beca grabbed her laptop and read through the email from Sara's assistant about the launch party. Halfway through the first paragraph, she swore.

"What's wrong?" Aubrey asked.

"Sara's launch is the same weekend CR and Natalie are coming up," Beca said. "Damn."

"Oh," Aubrey said. "Um, I'll stay home. Can't leave our guests here while we-"

"Hang on," Beca said, continuing to read. "Dude, seriously?"

"What?" Aubrey asked, nudging her.

"Apparently I can bring up to five people," Beca said. "I just have to get them names."

"Oh! So they can come with?" Aubrey asked. "That's awesome."

"Yeah," Beca said. "Coz I'm not even gonna lie, I love Sara, but if the choice is CR and Sara, I'm gonna choose CR. She's my best friend."

"She's gonna flip when you tell her," Aubrey said. "It's very cool that you can just bring friends." Beca was still scanning the email.

"Yeah," Beca agreed. "Though there is a nice little spiel in here about making sure guests don't do anything stupid. Not that CR would." She typed a response asking to put Cynthia Rose and Natalie on the list while Aubrey pulled her own laptop out.

"Oh, I've got stuff here about Geneva," Aubrey said. "I'll be flying out on the 25th and coming back on February 4. Wow, it's really happening." Beca was dialing Cynthia Rose on her phone.

"Hey," Cynthia Rose said.

"Hey man," Beca replied.

"How was Hawaii?"

"It was perfect," Beca said. "Just gorgeous CR. Seemed a shame to come home to New York. But I'm calling to ask if you guys are still up for visiting."

"Yeah, looking forward to it," Cynthia Rose said. "Natalie is psyched."

"Well, I totally forgot that I have this launch thing for Sara's record," Beca said. "But don't worry, because I got you guys on the invite list."

"What?!" the other girl shrieked. "Are you messing with me, Mitchell?"

"No dude, I'm serious," Beca said. "So you and Natalie better bring something fancy to wear because we're going to the album launch together."

"Hell yeah," Cynthia Rose said. "That's super chill. Natalie will lose her mind, for real."

"I'm glad," Beca said. "It should be a fun night. Let me know when you have your flight details and stuff."

"Oh!" Cynthia Rose said. "Natalie wants to know if she can courier you the painting she did for your wall."

"Oh, sweet," Beca said. "I'll send you the work address."

"Thanks," CR said. "It looks so awesome, B. She's got skills. We were gonna bring it up when we visit but if she sends it courier it's insured and also like, half the price. Dude, I did not know how expensive it was to carry a painting on a domestic flight. That's some shit."

"Tell Natalie I appreciate it," Beca said. "Seriously, I owe her."

"Man, I think that when I tell her we're going to a music industry shindig she'll say you're even," Cynthia Rose said. "We'll talk soon."

"Sure thing," Beca said.

"She sounded excited," Aubrey said with a smile. "I could hear her through the phone."

"Yeah she is," Beca said. "But tell me about Geneva."

"It's just a bunch of travel dates and information so far," Aubrey said. "But as far as I know we'll be sitting in on general assemblies and specialized panels."

"But they're presenting your stuff?" Beca asked.

"Well, I'm not going to be doing that personally," Aubrey said, "I think Terry will be doing it."

"Ugh I can't believe we have to go back to work tomorrow," Beca said. "Can we just go back to Hawaii?" She closed her laptop and put it down, Aubrey following suit. Aubrey tugged her down so that Beca was lying in her lap facing upward.

"It was beautiful," she agreed. She leaned down and kissed her softly. Beca let her hand move up and hold Aubrey's head in place as she deepened the kiss.

"It was beautiful," Aubrey said again, "But I could be anywhere with you and think the same." Beca just pulled her in again and rejoined their lips.


	20. Chapter 20

Beca didn't have time to ease herself into being back it work. It was pretty much full throttle from the second she walked in the door. Annie had full schedules lined up for her for the next two weeks, recording sessions and mastering sessions, tech tutorials and a little free time for her to work on the songwriting stuff. One of the first things she did was polish off some of the work she'd done with Sia and email it to her asking if she was happy with the work.

Natalie's artwork arrived for her office that Wednesday, and Beca was absolutely blown away by how good it was. She wasn't a complete moron, she knew Natalie taught art and therefore had to have some level of artistic ability. But it was amazing. It was huge for one, taking up a decent part of the blank wall that Beca had said was too boring. The bottom half of the image was painted to resemble a vinyl record - the detail was impeccable, you could see the grooves carefully etched into the black. At the midpoint of the record it turned into a silhouette of the New York City skyline, offset by bright watercolor splashes. It was perfect and Beca called her to thank her for it.

"Natalie, dude, this is awesome," Beca said. "I love it. Thank you so much."

"It was actually kind of fun," Natalie said. "Cynthia remembered how big that space was from the virtual tour you gave her. And after that it was easy to get something that just felt like you."

"Well it's perfect," Beca said. "How much do I owe you for it?"

"Uh, nothing," Natalie said. "Are you crazy? I'm going to an actual album launch of an internationally recognized artist. I'm still losing my mind."

"Sara is really rad," Beca said. "She's very down to earth. I can't wait to see you guys, it feels like way too long since I've seen CR."

"She sent off her application to Epic last week," Natalie said. "Did she tell you?"

"No," Beca said. "That's good to hear, though. Annie was looking forward to getting that."

"I think she's still downplaying her talent, to be honest," Natalie said. "You know what she's like, one of the most humble people on the planet."

"Yeah, I know, I can still barely get her to admit that she has a good voice," Beca said. "And we sang together for four years. Tell her to keep me posted and if I hear anything I'll let her know."

"Deal," Natalie said. "I've gotta run, but I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "And thanks again, Nat, I love it. Seriously."

"No prob." She hung up and just stared at the painting for a while, before she snapped a picture and sent it to Aubrey so she could see.

_Look how rad this thing is. Natalie is a beast._

She knew Aubrey was going to be extremely busy so she knew it might be a while until she got a response, so she went to grab a cup of coffee before her next scheduled appointment with Ted Shepherd.

His appointments were to gauge whether she'd be any good at identifying talent from the submissions they received in an endless stream. He still had a not-so-secret mission to get Beca to record something of her own, but she laughed it off.

"Maybe in a couple years, Ted," she said. "I'm happy doing what I'm doing now."

He had her sit in on a handful of submissions he'd already listened to, just to see if she was on the same wavelength as the rest of them. He played five samples in a row, and she took notes, then he asked what she thought.

"I would have knocked back 1, 2 and 5," she said. "3 and 4 were good, but I wasn't convinced about the instrumentals on 4 so I'd want to hear the guy with quality behind him. Though, number 1, that was a killer bass track and it didn't sound fake, so I'd want to look into that."

"You're a natural," he said. "We flicked the same ones, though the guy who listened to this approved 1, but then rejected it after we listened to more of their stuff. And number 4 does need a better backing, we just aren't entirely sure if they're a band, or friends, or something programmed that he's not familiar with."

"So call him, ask him what the go is with that backing track and tell him you want to hear more and you need it to be better caliber," Beca said. "If it's a matter of access, get him to download a backing for whatever pop song floats his boat and wail that out, because that way we can at least imagine what might help him sound good." Ted dropped his pen.

"Can I poach you to artist management if you don't want to record your stuff?" he said jokingly.

"Production and songwriting," Beca said with a grin. "Sorry dude." They got back to it and Beca then heard another half dozen tracks for the first time. Only one of them showed any promise and Ted agreed with her. They spent the afternoon listening to batches of artists and discussing things that either qualified or disqualified them from being passed on to someone in Artist Development. Beca actually found the afternoon very helpful because the longer that she and Ted discussed things, the clearer her vision was about the kinds of sounds Epic was interested in securing and promoting. Yes, occasionally they let someone through just because they could sing insanely well despite bad arrangements, and sometimes they let people through for great arrangements and lyrics but average singing, flagging them for the songwriting team.

By the time she got home Friday afternoon, she was absolutely exhausted. She wasn't complaining by any measure. Annie had told her she'd be expected to work hard, and she was happy to do it in return for what Epic were giving her. Nonetheless, when she arrived home - a little late thanks to a delay on her train line - to find Aubrey barefoot making coffee in their apartment she was tired beyond measure. Not too tired to go and kiss her girlfriend passionately, the casually tossed back hair and fleecy pajama pants too adorable to resist.

"You look tired," Aubrey commented.

"Big week," Beca said. "Really getting set into the groove of what I'll be doing day in day out now."

"It's all going well?" she asked, pouring Beca a cup of coffee as well.

"Sure," Beca said. "I mean, it's a lot of information all at once, but it's not overwhelming just yet. I'm just writing everything down, going over things repeatedly and trying to remember the key parts of everything I've learned so far."

"Fun though?" was the next prompt.

"So much fun," Beca grinned. "Aubrey, this is so much fun I can't believe they're paying me to do it."

"You're so beautiful," Aubrey said. She pulled Beca toward her and kissed her again. "Still, you look absolutely wiped. Finish your coffee, take a shower, I'll organize dinner. Anything specific?"

"Is it weird to say not pizza?" Beca said. "I didn't think I'd ever hear myself say those words. But like maybe soup? Pho?"

"Deal," Aubrey said. "Good call by the way."

Beca drank the rest of her coffee and kissed Aubrey on her way through to the bathroom. After a long, hot shower she too dressed in her own fleecy pajamas and made her way back into the living room.

"Food will be here soon," Aubrey said from the couch. She shifted over and raised an arm, Beca curling immediately against her side. Aubrey was reading a book and with her free hand she gently stroked Beca's hair. It was enough to make Beca fall into a light doze, until the delivery of the food woke her. They ate on the couch with some Sandra Bullock movie playing that they were only half watching.

"Do we have anything planned for the weekend?" Beca asked.

"I thought it might be time to start dress shopping," Aubrey said. "I want to make sure the dress I pick out is going to make you lose your mind."

"You can do that without a dress," Beca said. "But that sounds fine to me. I guess I should get something as well, first big work thing and all." She wasn't awake much longer than that, drifting back off to sleep against Aubrey's shoulder before long. The blonde woke her up and sent her off to bed, promising to join her as soon as she'd tidied up and made a call to Chloe. Beca shuffled off obediently and barely registered when Aubrey climbed into the bed behind her sometime later.

The next day Aubrey spent the time over her morning coffee laying out a plan of attack for their shopping expedition. Beca just raised an eyebrow and smirked at her girlfriend, earning her a slap on the ass for her cheekiness. But all being said, Aubrey had laid out a good plan, and she'd included places that Beca would be able to try and find a dress at as well.

They stopped for breakfast at one of their regular cafes, and then hit the stores. Aubrey was set on what she was after, Beca was less decided and was happy to take suggestion. By the time it hit mid afternoon, Beca was aching for another coffee stop. She'd picked her dress two stores ago, as well as a cute jacket to go with it, but Aubrey was looking still. They refueled and continued on.

It was three more stores before Aubrey found exactly what she was after. Beca couldn't even find it in her to be bored, because Aubrey in a tight little red dress was breathtaking. The second she'd stepped out of the dressing room, Beca's jaw had hit the floor.

"Wow," she said. "Just… wow."

"That's an encouraging sign," Aubrey said. Beca's eyes dropped to her perfectly framed ass.

"You look so god damned hot right now," Beca said. "Please tell me this is the dress."

"It is," Aubrey replied. "Because if you remember correctly, the criteria was something that would make you lose your mind. And you're about drooling on the floor, so I say this dress qualifies."

"Hell yeah it qualifies," Beca said.

"And I have the perfect pair of shoes to go with it already," she said, disappearing back in to change. Once they'd rung the dress up, Beca called a taxi to take them back to their apartment, where both dresses where safely stored in the closet.

"I thought when CR and Nat come up I might give all you guys the grand tour," Beca said. "I know you've been to Epic, but you haven't even seen my office in the flesh. And I think CR would get a kick out of it."

"That's a great idea," Aubrey said.

"Hey, how's Chloe?" Beca asked. "Didn't you call her last night?"

"Yeah she's good," Aubrey said. "She did want me to bust your chops for not being awake to talk to her though."

"I'm sure she did."

"But things are good. She's still seeing Noah, but they're actually doing rotations now so everything is kind of hectic. But she wants to try and visit again really soon, she's just not sure when her schedule is going to allow that. Because even when she's not rostered on at the hospital, she still has so much study to do."

"She's going to be such a kickass doctor," Beca said. "Does she like, have a specialty she wants to get into yet?"

"She's a little fascinated by neurology," Aubrey said. "Everything she said to me was very complicated and I barely knew what she was talking about. But she still has plenty more rotations to go before she has to make any kind of decision about that anyway."

"I'll give her a call tomorrow," Beca said. "I miss her."

"I've been missing all of the Bellas a little lately," Aubrey said. "We used to all be so tight and we've really scattered. We should try and make the effort to stay in better touch with them all."

"Yeah," Beca said. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Amy's booming voice sometimes. The Bella house was never quiet. I mean, some days I did also want to strangle her so I could have some peace."

"I kind of wish I'd been able to experience living in the house with all of you," Aubrey said.

"It had pros and cons," Beca said. "You couldn't get any serious study done in the house. And actual privacy was just not a thing."

"Maybe not then," Aubrey said. "Are you excited to have CR and Natalie up next weekend?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "Hey did I tell you that Natalie said CR put her grad program application in?"

"No. CR didn't tell you?"

"Nope," Beca said. "But she's always downplaying how awesome she is, so I think she might have just done it and waited until she heard anything back to say something, just in case. But I did email Annie and tell her to keep an eye out for it."

The next week raced past. Beca had been pulled into Annie's office on Tuesday afternoon unexpectedly. The redhead apologised for the ominous summon but she was on a tight schedule.

"That's cool," Beca said. "What can I do for you?" Annie held up a file.

"This is your friend CR's application," she said. "We got it Thursday. I checked it all out. Tell me, Beca. You know her better than any of us, and you know what it's like here. Would she fit?"

"CR?" Beca said. "Hell yeah. She's solid, works her ass off, knows her shit, but she's got an edge and she doesn't believe in pulling punches. There's a reason she's my best friend. Though I want to make it clear, I wouldn't be trying to get her out here if I didn't think she could do it." Annie pulled out another file.

"This is her welcome packet," Annie said. "I liked her application. And it will be made perfectly clear that this wasn't a favor to you, she's just good. She's done good work getting both the Bellas and you out there and recognized. Her grades were above what we consider the benchmark. And she's almost got a year of PR experience already. So we admitted her."

"Seriously!?" Beca said. "That's awesome. She's going to flip out."

"We don't normally do things this way," Annie said, "But didn't you say she'd be in town soon?"

"This weekend," Beca said. "She's also tagging to Sara's album launch with her partner."

"So maybe you should deliver this to her instead of me mailing it out," Annie said.

"Dude, she's going to lose it," Beca said. "You won't regret it, Annie."

"Good," she said. She held the packet out to Beca. "Now as much as I'd like to chat, I have back to back meetings and then a late afternoon Skype thing."

"Ouch," Beca said. "I hope you're caffeinated."

"I will be," Annie said. Beca hightailed it out of the office and went back to her own. The first thing she did was call Aubrey and tell her the exciting news. She half wanted to call CR straight away, but she decided to keep it until Friday and see her reaction.

Friday afternoon, Beca got a text from CR saying they were boarding and due to arrive in New York at about six thirty pm. She and Aubrey decided that after the travel it'd probably be better to have dinner at home, but Aubrey had gone out to pick up champagne to celebrate with Cynthia Rose after she'd heard she had been accepted.

Once CR and Natalie had arrived and taken a brief moment to wash up, they all congregated in the living room. Dinner was on the way, so Beca thought it'd be a good time to announce the surprise.

"Hey, CR," she said casually. "I got you something."

"What? You buying me gifts now?" she asked. Beca got up and went to retrieve the paperwork from the safety of Aubrey's desk. She brought the big envelope in and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's your welcome to Epic Records pack," Beca said. "Annie asked me to deliver it to you personally." The other girl's jaw dropped, and Natalie practically squealed as she threw her arms around her.

"Seriously?" she asked. "I'm coming to New York?"

"Hell yeah you are," Beca said. CR's eyes misted over, but she reigned it in a little as they all celebrated the moment.

"Wow," she said. "I mean, damn, I only sent that thing off like, last week."

"She was looking for it," Beca said. "She also wanted me to make sure you knew definitively that this wasn't a favor to me. Your application rocked, CR."

"Man, I am so pumped," she said. "Hell yeah!"

"I preemptively bought champagne for the occasion," Aubrey said. "I'll go get it." Beca followed her, letting CR and Natalie have a private moment of celebration. She grabbed some glasses as Aubrey grabbed the bottle.

"She's gonna slay that grad program," Beca said.

"She will," Aubrey said. "And it'll be good for you to have her out here."

"Yeah, she and Nat will have to find a place," Beca said. "And Nat will have to find a new job, but she already told me she's happy to do that if it means CR will get to do something that makes her happy."

"Well, I'm assuming you'd be okay with me offering our spare room for whatever they need while they find a place, look for work, whatever," Aubrey said.

"Definitely," Beca said. They took the champagne out to the living room and toasted to Cynthia Rose, chatting happily until their food arrived. After they'd finished dinner, Natalie helped Beca tidy up while Cynthia Rose called her parents.

"Hundred bucks says you'll be able to hear Mama Peters through the phone," Natalie said.

"Having met Mama Peters, it'd be stupid to take that bet," Beca laughed. Sure enough, the older woman's joy could be heard blasting through CR's phone to the point where she had to pull the device away from her ear.

"I thought tomorrow you guys might want to come and check out the studio," Beca said when she'd hung up. "See the office, I can tour you to almost the entire building."

"That'd be rad," CR said. They weren't awake too much longer, their guests fatigued after traveling that afternoon. Beca was in bed before Aubrey, the blonde sliding in behind her and wrapping an arm over her waist.

"I love you Mitchell," she murmured.

"I love you too, Posen," Beca replied.


	21. Chapter 21

They all stopped for breakfast on their way to Epic the next morning, before Beca took them in to show them the studio. She started by taking them through all the parts of the lower floors where the grad program typically found themselves. Being a Saturday, there wasn't much going on, but Cynthia Rose didn't care. She still paid close attention to what she was seeing and taking mental notes as she went. Then they headed upward. Some of the levels, there was no point getting off. She just explained what they were as they passed until they hit the levels with studios and offices on them.

She had checked ahead and saw that the suites they'd used for Sara's album weren't booked at the moment so she unlocked that one and showed it to them. They were all suitably impressed.

"It's not what I imagined it would look like," Aubrey said. "I guess I was expecting something less… grandiose. But everything is huge and looks expensive."

"Wow," Cynthia Rose said. "This is something else. I can't believe you get to do this day to day, B, this is awesome."

"Yeah, it is," Beca said. "Now let's go check out my office." She took them to her office, and they all filed in.

"This is an impressive sized office," Aubrey said. "Considering you've been there like six months. I'm still cubicle sharing. It's bigger in person. And Natalie, that painting is incredible."

"Thanks," she said.

"Couple of people have commented on it," Beca said. "It's a hit." They perched on the comfortable chairs while Beca played them the song she'd been working on since she had come back from her trip to meet with Sia.

"That was bomb," Cynthia Rose said. "What happens now?"

"Well, I've sent her a copy so she can give a yes or no on the edit," Beca said. "From there I'll send it to Annie and she'll shop it around and see what happens."

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Natalie said.

"Well it starts at seven thirty," Beca said. "Open bar and food, but not a sit down dinner. Lots of press. Music. Dancing. I'm not required to like, do anything, but I imagine there are people I'll have to speak to at some point. Annie will drag my ass around I'm sure, make sure I'm meeting all the right people."

"I'm still excited as hell," Natalie said. "I'm not even gonna pretend."

"Me too," Aubrey said. "I bought this dress-" she and Natalie devolved into a talk about clothes and shoes, while Beca and Cynthia Rose ignored it and instead talked more about some of the grad program stuff.

After a while they decided they should head out and grab some lunch and then take an easy afternoon in preparation for their big night out. Once they got back to the apartment, each couple split off and retired to separate bedrooms to get some rest.

They caught an uber to the club where Sara was holding the launch, Cynthia Rose sliding in the front while the three dress clad girls crammed in the back. Beca had taken a good long while to pick her jaw up off the floor when she'd seen Aubrey's completed outfit for the night.

Natalie had gone all out for the occasion too and she turned out to be a bit of a wizard with hair and did Beca a slightly tousled up do that looked really good.

The closer they got to the club, Beca realised she was getting a little nervous. This was her first big work function. Aubrey could read her too well, though, and simply took her hand reassuringly.

They got out and approached the door. There was a sizeable group of people waiting outside, trying to catch a glimpse of Sara or some other celebrity. Beca gave their names to the guy working the door and they were ushered inside. A pair of employees checked their coats and jackets for them, and then they followed the music.

Beca scanned the room immediately and spotted a few of the people who'd worked on the record. But first, they angled toward the bar. The game plan for all four of them was to not drink much. But one to start with would ease any nervous tension. The first person who made their way over was Jason.

"You scrub up half decent, Becky," he said with a grin.

"You don't," she shot back, which made him laugh. "Jason, you've met Aubrey. This is Cynthia Rose my best friend - she just got admitted to the grad program for next year, and this is Natalie."

"Ladies," he said, tilting his beer toward him. The he directed his next words to Cynthia Rose. "You're joining us in a few months?"

"Yeah, Annalise Moore let Beca break the news to me yesterday," she said. "I'm so excited, ready to come and work my ass off."

"Sounds like a common trait in you Barden kids," he said. "I look forward to seeing you again. Now, I must continue the mingling. Beca, you should make sure you find Sara, she's around somewhere."

"Will do," she said.

"You do realise he called you Becky," Natalie said. Beca rolled her eyes.

"Two people in the entire world call me Becky," she said. "One was Luke from the radio station and now Jason. Both English and both also call me Becky more often after I corrected them. Assholes." She scanned through the room quickly to see if she could spot Sara or Annie, either would be fine with her.

Sara ended up spotting her first and made her way over, throwing her arms around the smaller girl. "Beca! So glad you could make it. And Aubrey, nice to see you again." She also hugged Aubrey.

"We're pretty excited to be here," Beca said. "It's my first proper work shindig. Sara, this is Cynthia Rose and Natalie, friends of mine. CR was a Bella, so was Aubrey."

"Oh, I watched videos of you guys," Sara said. "Man the ICCAs were not like that when I sang in them, you guys kick ass. Hey, Beca, did my little Twitter thing leave any lasting damage?"

"It made about a thousand people decide I was worth following," Beca said. "I turned all the notifications off and went to Hawaii."

"My favorite part was how many of those comments were all gooey over Beca," Aubrey added. "It was hilarious."

"Lucky Aubrey's secure in your relationship," Sara said.

"Oh, there's nobody but Aubrey for me," Beca said. "I found it a little bizarre. But I've kind of realised I might need to actually pay attention to social media a little more. I wouldn't want to do anything stupid, ruin the brand for Epic or anything."

"It's a learning curve for everyone," Sara said. "What about the rest of you guys? New York?"

"Barden," Natalie said. "I teach high school art. CR just got admitted to Epic's next intake for the grad program."

"Damn!" Sara said. "Beca seriously helped my ass out with some of the tracks on this album."

"CR was totally my MVP," Beca said. "Her pipes kill mine."

"Well, Cynthia Rose, yours is a face I won't forget, just in case," Sara said. "Hate to dash, but as I'm sure you can imagine, this entire night will be me swinging in and out of chatter every five seconds. But enjoy the night! Food soon, I swear. At least there fucking better be, I'm starving." She pressed a quick kiss to Beca's cheek and swept away.

"She seems really great," Cynthia Rose said.

"She's really nice," Natalie added.

"She was so easy to record with," Beca said. "She's exactly like that all of the time." They got swept up with the more and more people who were filing in, Beca introducing them to a few more people.

They landed near a corner of the bar with Annalise Moore and her boyfriend - who turned out to be a wide receiver for the New York Jets. Annie was keen to engage their newest hire in a little chatter, not talking shop specifically but definitely feeling her out. Once they were done - distracted by the food that was starting to appear - Annie definitely nodded at Beca, which made her feel positive about the whole thing.

The rest of the night seemed like a whirlwind. The chatter was broken periodically as Sara introduced songs from the album, giving a brief spiel about what inspired or drove the song before it played. Beca wasn't a professional music critic, and she was one hundred percent biased for sure, but it seemed to be being received very well.

Aubrey had informed Cynthia Rose and Natalie that Beca had helped pretty significantly on two of the tracks, so when those two were played specifically, the group paid close attention to them. Natalie and CR couldn't stop raving about how impressed they were, which made Beca happy. And Aubrey just leaned into her ear and whispered that she was so proud.

Once all of the songs had been previewed, Sara did give a speech. It included a word of thanks to just about everyone involved, Beca included. After that, the music was turned up and the dancing started. Natalie tugged Cynthia Rose out onto the floor straight away, and after a quick bathroom break Beca and Aubrey joined them.

It was the easiest way to spend a night, dancing with Aubrey, hanging out with her best friend, surrounded by celebrities and feeling like she really fit in here. It was an elating experience. They hadn't had the smoothest run in New York, but they were happy, they were safe and healthy, and they were both making great gains in their careers.

They left sometime after two, cramming into a taxi happily. The night had been a huge success, and as they traveled back toward the apartment, fatigue began to set in. Once they got out of the cab, Aubrey kicked her shoes off, a move quickly adopted by Natalie and they made their way inside.

Beca and Aubrey made sure to greet the doorman by name - it was only common courtesy to learn the name of the people responsible for their safety and quietly made their way upstairs. Beca briefly mentioned a brunch or lunch, specifying that if anyone woke her prior to ten for anything that wasn't life threatening she'd kill them. There was a general murmur of agreement, and they separated into their rooms for bed.

Aubrey was the first awake the next morning, and after quickly tugging a shirt on she washed up and immediately went to put coffee on. After she'd set the machine going she went back into the bedroom to put some longer pants on because it was damn cold even at ten thirty. As she shuffled back toward the kitchen she heard movement in the spare room, so she made four cups of coffee.

She paused at the spare room door and called out that there was coffee in the kitchen, then proceeded back to the bedroom with her and Beca's drinks. She set the coffee down next to her, set her own down on the opposite side and then crawled back into the bed to wake her.

"Beca," she said softly. She reached a hand over and gently shook her shoulder. "Beca, time to start waking up." The brunette mumbled and then rolled over, blearily opening an eye.

"Time is it?" she asked.

"Almost quarter to eleven," Aubrey said. "I brought you coffee though." Beca managed to get herself into a sitting position and picked up the mug.

"Thanks," she said.

"I figured we'd have time to shower, take the girls out to lunch and get back before they get all their stuff together to go home," Aubrey said. "Last night was a lot of fun."

"It was," she said. "It was amazing. And it was made twice as amazing by the fact that I got to share it with CR and Natalie, and most importantly, you." Aubrey leaned over and kissed her softly. They heard the shower in the guest bathroom turn on.

"I guess that means that the girls are awake," Beca said.

"Yeah, I let them know that the coffee was done," Aubrey replied. "I'm going to jump in the shower now, you want to wait til I'm done or join me?" Beca downed the rest of her coffee in an absolute hurry.

"Like that's even a question," she said.

They picked a café nearby, all four of them absolutely ravenous on account of sleeping so late. They ate until they could barely move, having a great time recounting the events of the previous night and talking about future plans of when Cynthia Rose would be working at Epic as well.

"What about you, Natalie?" Beca asked. "You planning on coming to New York?"

"Yeah," she said. "We talked about what would happen if CR got the job, and I always said I'd be coming with her. Teaching is one of those skills where it doesn't much matter where you are. I can teach school, teach private classes, adult community classes, anything really."

"That's good to hear."

"I'll start looking around as soon as we get back, making calls and stuff," she said.

"And we'll keep a look out for apartments and stuff," Aubrey said. "My dad knows a guy."

"That'd be great," Cynthia Rose said. "I still can't really believe it. Man, this is gonna be awesome."

"I can't wait either," Beca said. "It's gonna be good having you here, CR." They finished up their lunch and headed back to the apartment. Cynthia Rose and Natalie went and packed up their things, while Beca put some music on softly. Aubrey had changed out of her jeans into a pair of yoga pants and had shoved the coffee table out of the way so she could stretch out on the floor.

"Are you sore?" Beca asked.

"My calves and lower back," Aubrey said. "A full night of dancing in the tallest heels I own will do that. I'll be fine, just need a stretch."

"Well, far be it from me to complain about you being all bendy in tight clothing," Beca said. Aubrey tossed a cushion at her. Cynthia Rose carried their bags into the living room.

"Well, we're all packed," she said. "I'll call the cab, we should really get going."

"Thanks for letting us come and crash your house and your work party," Natalie said. "I had a blast. Though looking at Aubrey stretching on the floor, I realise that I could do with a bit of recovery myself. But it can wait til I get home."

Cynthia Rose called the taxi and they all waited until it arrived. Beca helped her carry them down and get them into the trunk. The four of them said their goodbyes, Cynthia Rose promising to call Beca when they got home safely. Aubrey wrapped herself around Beca and they watched as the taxi drove away.

Once upstairs, Aubrey resumed her spot back on the floor. Beca watched for a while, ever impressed and somewhat turned on by Aubrey's flexibility. But after a while she tugged her up and kissed her hard.

"A hot bath," Beca said. "Let's go take a hot bath together, as hot as we can stand. It'll help." Aubrey just nodded as she kissed her again.

Beca ended up being right. The longer they stayed in the tub, the better she felt. Beca periodically added more hot water so they didn't get cold. After they climbed out they put on warm clothes and went into the living room. Aubrey paused to adjust the thermostat - it was colder now than it was over Christmas. They didn't really have any plans for the rest of the night. They stayed in, quietly recharging after a somewhat hectic weekend.

The next morning, Aubrey woke first. She wasn't surprised to see that it had snowed overnight - properly snowed. She woke Beca up so she could come and see.

"Wow," Beca said. "Guess I should check and see if our subway lines are running." She grabbed her cell and saw that they were but they were also delayed by ten minutes.

"It's smart to get down there as soon as possible," Aubrey said. "And don't count on trains being able to run this afternoon. It's still snowing." They both watched for a moment as pretty flakes fell over the city for a few minutes before they snapped out of it and began getting ready.

Work resumed its full-tilt pace for Beca and Aubrey alike. The snow hung around for a few weeks, but Beca kind of thought it was pretty. She also liked that despite the snow, New York was still all fast paced and never stopped.

One evening Aubrey came home with a manila folder full of paperwork for her trip to Geneva. She was incredibly excited about going, and Beca was excited for her, even if it meant they'd be apart. It was only a week, and they'd been apart a lot longer than that before.

Before she knew it, she was bundling Aubrey into a taxi with a fierce kiss, stowing her suitcase in the trunk and reminding her to call as soon as she landed. Aubrey said she would, of course, and waved as the taxi took her away. It was a Saturday morning, so she didn't have to go into work. There was a little housework that needed doing and some music she could look at over the weekend if she wanted to, but first she wanted to pout and feel sorry for herself.

She didn't wallow too long, choosing instead to wear an old hoodie of Aubrey's while she tidied up and listened to music. After she was done, she called Chloe and chatted to her for a while. Nothing important, it had just been a while. The redhead hadn't been able to stay long, she was due at the hospital soon, but Beca remarked that she sounded like she was enjoying herself a great deal.

Aubrey called in the early evening to let her know she'd arrived safely and checked in. She FaceTimed her briefly to show her how beautiful Geneva was, and it certainly was that, even if it was covered in a much deeper snow than New York had managed. They spoke for a little while, saying over and over again that they would miss the other until Beca declared she probably should go and look at options for dinner.

She ended up ordering Chinese, still ordering their usual portions for the two of them. She figured it'd last her the rest of the weekend at least, which would eliminate the need for thinking about food for a while. But as she picked some of the beef up with her chopsticks, she missed Aubrey. It was cheesy and lame, but she did. So she flicked on the television and found Suits was on, something Aubrey liked to watch from time to time, leaving it on.

When she woke the next morning, it was to the sound of her phone ringing. She stumbled out of bed and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Beca?" a voice came. Beca sorted through the fuzziness in her brain and realised it was Aubrey's dad. "It's William."

"Hi, William," she said.

"It sounds like I woke you, I was just concerned because I tried calling Aubrey and couldn't reach her," he said.

"Oh, she might just have her phone turned off," Beca said. "She's in Geneva for that UN thing, she left yesterday. I spoke to her last night though."

"Oh, good," he said. "Given some of the things the two of you have handled since you arrived, I was concerned."

"Yeah, we're fine," Beca said. "Promise. She did tell me that she wouldn't have her phone on her a great deal during proceedings, it was just easier security wise. But she's calling me every day she's gone. If you like I can get her to call you."

"Oh it was nothing important," he said. "I'll be in New York Friday and was hoping to get together for dinner."

"Sure that sounds great," Beca said. "I mean, it'd just be you and I, but I'm free."

"Then I'll book somewhere appropriate and let you know," he said. "Give Aubrey my love when you do speak to her."

"I will," Beca promised, and hung up. It was kind of perfect, William being in town this week. Because she wanted to have a face to face conversation with the man, but she also didn't want Aubrey there. Because now that they were settled and happy, she wanted to ask Aubrey to marry her.


	22. Chapter 22

William had emailed her the address of the restaurant he had chosen for Friday night, so Beca was left to worry for the rest of the week. She didn't for a second think that William would be against her asking Aubrey to marry her, but she knew that the elder Posen was very traditional, so she would be expected to ask in the right manner.

In the end, she called her dad. She knew that he had asked her mother's parents for her hand, so he knew what was expected. And she also just wanted to let him know, anyway. So she called after work Tuesday night.

"Hello?" her father said.

"Hey, dad, just me," Beca said. "Are you free for a bit of a chat?"

"Sure, you know I always have time for you," he said. "What's on your mind, Beca?"

"Well, as you know, Bree is out of town at that UN conference at the moment," Beca said. "And on Friday her dad's going to be in town and we're going to be meeting up for dinner. However, this dinner is turning into a big deal for me, because I'm going to ask William for Aubrey's hand."

"Really?" he asked. "Wow, Beca, that's great."

"Except I'm ridiculously nervous and I want to make sure I'm not being a disrespectful moron," Beca said. "Got any tips?"

"First, relax," her dad said with a laugh. "William likes you. He's told Sheila and I as much. So you don't really need to be nervous. In terms of disrespect… As a dad, I can only say that he wants to hear his little girl is going to be loved, supported, respected and cherished. That's all I want for you. So if you promise to do those things, William won't be worried in the least about giving you Aubrey's hand."

"You think?" Beca asked.

"I know," Warren said. "Have you got a timeframe on this proposal?"

"Not yet," Beca said. "We wanted to wait until we got settled in a little and the drama went away. But William calling and saying he's going to be in town just as Aubrey isn't around to be suspicious, that timing is perfect, so I need to seize that opportunity. I haven't even got a ring yet."

"Well, I'm sure she's going to say yes, regardless," Warren said. "She's a fantastic girl, Beca and you're both very lucky to have that kind of life with each other."

"Don't I know it," Beca said. "Thanks, dad. I'll let you know how it goes, maybe call you Saturday?"

"That'd be great," he said. "Do you mind if I fill Sheila in?"

"Of course not," Beca said. "I love you, dad."

"Love you too, kiddo." She hung up feeling a lot better and then moved on to the next thing that was on her list. A ring. She was pretty confident she knew what kind of ring Aubrey would like, and she basically had enough cash to get her something nice without being ostentatious. She browsed a couple of the websites of jewelers around the area and bookmarked some images she liked.

She was jolted out of her research by her cell ringing, seeing that it was Chloe, she picked it up. She'd be able to help her narrow it down.

"Hey," Beca said.

"Hey Becs," Chloe chirped. "What are you up to?"

"Research," Beca said.

"For what, a song?" Chloe asked.

"No, not a song," Beca replied. "Are you online at the moment?"

"I can be," Chloe said. "Wait a sec." They were both logged onto Facebook so Beca sent her a couple of links.

"I need an opinion," Beca said, before being cut off by unholy squealing that she probably could have heard without the phone.

"BECA MITCHELL THIS BETTER BE WHAT I THINK IT IS!"

"It is," Beca said. "Or it will be, anyway."

"OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST - YOU GUYS ARE - I'M SO HAPPY-"

"Chloe, Jesus, my eardrums," Beca said. "Anyway, here's three choices, right? I can't pick between them. You should help, you've known her forever."

"Okay okay," Chloe said. "Hang on." She could hear clicking and little noises as Chloe checked out the three links.

"What do you think?"

"I think the first one," Chloe said. "The cut's a bit more classic, and Bree would be into that."

"Yeah that was the one I liked most," Beca said. "But thanks for the backup. I assume I can count on you to keep this to yourself?"

"Oh, of course," Chloe said. "What's made you decide to do it now?"

"Well, this was always a when situation, not an if," Beca said. "And we've both settled into our careers a bit and the first year of us living out here has been pretty eventful at both ends of the spectrum. But I still love her more than anything. That hasn't wavered even the slightest bit. And then her dad called randomly and he's going to be in town while Aubrey isn't here and that just feels like it's not an accident, you know? So I may as well ask him."

"Aww man," Chloe said. She was starting to tear up, Beca could tell. "You guys… Do you have a plan?"

"Not yet," Beca said. "I'll work on it. But as long as it ends in Aubrey saying yes any plan will do."

"Well, I'm going to need to be the first non-related person you guys call," Chloe said.

"Duh," Beca said. "You're like, the main reason Bree and I ever became friends in the first place. Now look at us."

"Damn straight," Chloe said. "Love you, Becs."

"Love you too, Chlo," she said, hanging up. She wrote down the details of the ring she and Chloe had both liked and stuffed it inside her work bag, inside a pocket in the interior so she wouldn't lose it and it also wouldn't be found.

When she got into bed that night, she couldn't help but begin to imagine a thousand different scenarios in which she asked Aubrey to marry her, and the look on her face when Aubrey saw the ring and said yes. It was a pretty good way to fall asleep.

The next morning it was sleeting and cold. She called ahead and ordered a cab to take her work, not much liking the idea of walking to the train station. She booked it to leave early in case of traffic, and got ready for work quickly. She checked her phone and saw a message from Aubrey, just checking in and saying hi, so she sent a quick text back, having no idea what time it actually was in Geneva.

She slid into the cab and greeted the driver, gave him her work address and settled back. The radio was playing one of Sara's songs, not a new one, but an older one. She smiled, because the song gave her an idea. She dug her phone out and texted Cynthia Rose to call her ASAP, which ended up being about fifteen minutes later.

"What's up?" CR asked.

"Well, both not much and a lot," Beca said. "Bree is in Switzerland, I'm just on my way to work, but I have some news."

"What's that?" her best friend asked.

"I'm going to ask Aubrey to marry me," Beca said.

"Hell yeah," Cynthia Rose said. "Hell yeah. This is some good news."

"I'm meeting her dad for dinner this week," Beca said. "And I have a ring picked out. But what I don't have nailed down is a plan. So I'm gonna run through it for you, and I need you to tell me whether or not it's too much. Honestly."

"Okay," CR said. "Though I don't think anything would be too much. You guys are solid, she'd say yes if you asked her in the basement, and she'd say yes if you helicoptered above New York and asked her there."

"Okay, no helicopters," Beca laughed. She laid out the plan to Cynthia Rose in as much detail as she could figure, hoping she'd be able to remember all of these details when she had a pen handy.

"That's some plan, B," Cynthia Rose said. "There are a few things that need to line up for you, but if they do, it'll be a hell of a thing."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna make it work," Beca said. "It'd be kind of perfect."

"Well if you need a hand with anything, you just let me know," Cynthia Rose said. Beca promised she would, but then said she had to go, as they were pulling up near Epic. She handed the cab driver some cash and got out, deciding to stop for coffee first.

Some of the guys from the grad program were there already, so she stopped and made small talk with them for a while. But she did have a lot of work to do, so she headed upstairs to her office. There were messages in her email queue, one from Annie to say she wanted a meeting at eleven, and one from none other than Sia.

She was just letting Beca know that she was cool with the final edit of two of the songs they'd worked on, and said she even had someone in mind for one of them. That was pretty exciting to read, and she emailed Aubrey to keep her updated. She missed Aubrey a ton, but she was kept in good spirits by the knowledge that soon she'd be asking Aubrey to marry her.

She worked on a master with one of the engineers for a while until she had to head to Annie's office to catch up with her. The redhead was barefoot and sitting on one of the leather chairs away from her desk. Beca couldn't help but grin. Annie seemed to own some really fantastic shoes but she didn't really like wearing them a lot.

"Hey," Annie said, waving her over. "How's things?"

"Yeah good," Beca said. "Sia is ready to roll on those two tracks, says she might have someone on the hook for one of them already."

"Ah, I've called you for something pretty similar to that," Annie said. She held out her hand. "Congratulations, Beca. You sold your first song."

"Say what?" Beca said, shaking her hand. But she was completely

"That song you wrote," Annie said. "Major Lazer took an option on it and word has it they've got Ellie Goulding ready to do a vocal. That's your first writer credit, officially, locked in. Big thing for you."

"Wow," Beca said. "This feels very… surreal."

"You wait til the first time you hear it on the radio," Annie said with a grin. "You should call your girlfriend, get her to take you somewhere fancy."

"She's in Switzerland," Beca said. "Til Saturday. Work thing."

"Switzerland?" Annie said. "She's with the UN, you said, right?"

"Yeah, she's doing a whole bunch of work on child labor and stuff lately, and there's some conference on," Beca said. "They're presenting this whole package and Bree got the invite because her data and paper is all over that. I'm not good at explaining it but she's the smartest and she's kicking ass."

"Got it," Annie said. "Your friend, Cynthia Rose, did she have a good time at the album launch?"

"Yeah, she did," Beca said. "She met a lot of people. Damn, Annie, she's so much better at talking to people than I am."

"Which brings me to point two," Annie said. "PR. You've done some really solid work in studio etcetera, your tech skills have been bumped up, now I just need you to get a handle on the PR. I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong, it's just what we do with all of our producers and songwriters."

"Oh, sweet," Beca said. "I'm not the best with that shit. CR took care of all the Bellas stuff. And I didn't even think about what my own stuff looked like til Sara dropped my name in a tweet and I blew up by accident."

"That's what these guys are for," Annie said. "You're not an artist so this isn't really about public appearances so much, but social media is big, fucking scary thing. They'll hammer it down with you. I've got you seeing Vivian for the first half of tomorrow, I'll email you details."

"Thanks," Beca said. They talked a little more about work, until Annie declared it lunch time so she would be back in time for her afternoon meetings. Beca headed back to her office and tried to figure out the time difference and whether or not it would be appropriate to call Aubrey. She was put out of her misery when she realised Aubrey was calling her.

"Hey," Aubrey said. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," Beca said. "How's Geneva?"

"Really interesting," Aubrey said. "I'm learning a lot, and people have been very responsive to Terry's presentation. What about you?"

"Oh, yeah," Beca said. "I just sold my first song."

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "Annie told me today. It still feels a bit weird." They chatted for a while, before Aubrey had to go.

"I love you, Beca," she said. "I'll call you when I can."

"Love you too, Bree," she responded.

Before she knew it, it was Friday evening and she was walking into the restaurant to meet Aubrey's dad for dinner. She was a little nervous, but she just kept running over what she'd spoken to her own dad about, trying to calm herself down. She was shown to the table where William was already waiting. He got up and embraced her quickly, kissing her on the cheek and pulling her chair for her. Ever the gentleman.

"A drink?" he asked.

"I wouldn't be averse to a red," Beca said. "And some water." William ordered their drinks and they turned to the menu, indulging in a little catch up chatter whilst they tried to decide. Once they'd ordered, he asked how Aubrey was doing in Geneva, and then Beca told him about her recent work developments. William always seemed very interested in what she was doing, which she appreciated.

"Anyway," Beca said. "Since we'll be waiting for our food for a while yet, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"And what's that?" William asked.

"It's about Aubrey," Beca said. "Now, I know you Posens, and I know that there's nothing to be gained by beating around the bush. So let me start by making my intentions clear - I'm asking your permission to ask Aubrey to marry me."

"I see," he said.

"This isn't something I ever thought I'd need to do," Beca said. "So I asked my dad for a little advice. He told me that all a father wants to know is that his little girl is going to be loved, supported, respected and cherished. Aubrey and I have been through a lot together. We made it through long distance. We made it through all of the drama with Peter, we made it through me being assaulted, through both of us starting new and pretty demanding jobs. But I love her now more than I ever have. And I promise you, that if she marries me, there will not be a single day that she doubts whether I love her, whether I support her, respect her or cherish her. Because she means the world to me. So William, I know tradition is important to both you and Aubrey, so this is me asking for her hand. May I please ask your daughter to marry me?"

"Yes, of course," he said. Beca broke out in a grin. "Beca I know that quite often you've been described as unorthodox. But it doesn't bother me one bit. Because I know how happy my Aubrey is with you. She tells me. She tells me that you're the sun in her sky. And I'm not going to be the person who deprives her of that. You've always treated her properly, loved her, challenged her. And I can't think of a single person I'd rather have as a daughter in law than you."

"Thank you," Beca said. "You won't regret that."

"No, I don't think I will," he said. Their main courses were being delivered so that effectively ended the conversation between them. Both opted out of dessert, choosing simply coffee instead before William paid the check.

"When is Aubrey due home?" he asked, helping her on with her coat.

"Late tomorrow," Beca replied. "Twenty after ten. She'll get a car service home."

"Have her call me Sunday, just to catch up?" he asked.

"I will," she promised.

"And do you need a ride?" he asked.

"I was just going to hail a cab," Beca said. The man strode toward the corner of the street and in under a minute a taxi was pulling up.

"It was good to spend an evening together," he said. "Thank you for being good company."

"Thank you as well," Beca said. "The apartment does feel empty when she isn't home." They hugged quickly, and William closed the door after Beca slid in. On the way home she shot a quick text to Cynthia Rose and Chloe informing them that William had given her the go ahead to ask Aubrey to marry her. Now there was only two things left in the way of her plan. One was a timing issue, and the other was a bit trickier, but she was banking on her charm to help her out with that, only it would have to wait a couple of days.

The next night, Beca waited up for Aubrey to get home. By the time the blonde actually made it to the apartment it was almost midnight, but just seeing her was enough to perk Beca right up.

"You're home,' Beca said, throwing herself at the taller woman. Aubrey engulfed her in a hug, and then pulled back far enough to kiss her.

"Yep, finally," she said. "I missed you so much. It was ridiculous. Work was great, I learned a lot and there was so much interesting stuff going on, but the second it all stopped, I missed you."

"I missed you too," Beca said. "I even told your dad last night that the apartment feels really empty when you aren't here with me."

"How was dinner with dad?" Aubrey asked.

"Eh. Dinner," Beca said. "He does want you to call him tomorrow, he wants to know how Geneva was. Dinner was fine, we just chatted about work and stuff. Shame he couldn't hang around." She pushed some errant hair from Aubrey's face and kissed her again, insistently and tenderly.

"Mmm," Aubrey hummed. "I did miss this." She kissed her again, her body weight shifting into Beca's slightly as the embrace deepened.

"How tired are you?" Beca asked. "Because I missed you and you're beautiful and I love you."

"Not too tired for where this is headed," Aubrey said. "I was, but then being near you, it was like I got a whole new surge of energy." Her fingers had slipped down to Beca's pants and were untying the drawstring.

"Good," Beca said. Her own hands were unzipping Aubrey's jacket as they made their way to the bedroom. After that it was steady and unhurried, hands mapping tracks over skin and mouths chasing down smooth terrain.

Afterward, Aubrey was slipping into sleep, fatigue from travel finally catching up. Beca convinced her to put clothes on, the winter night chill still very much evident, and then snuggled up against her.

"I could have used a personal heater like this in Geneva," Aubrey said. "Bed's better with you in it."

"Everything is better with you in it, Bree," Beca said. She pressed a kiss to the forehead of her already sleeping girlfriend and smiled.


	23. Chapter 23

Beca managed to buy the ring two weeks later. She had it buried somewhere Aubrey would never look, inside a box that was inside a bag with the rest of the additional cables she didn’t use. Now she just needed a little good fortune, and it had a lot to do with Sara Bareilles. 

She had Sara’s phone number, but they weren’t exactly call-and-catch-up buddies. Only she needed a big favor. So she took a deep breath and sent her a text.

_Hey if you’re free sometime soon, give me a call? Mobile or office. Thanks._

She was working on a few different things at the moment. She had about half dozen songs she was polishing up to send off to Annie, and she was recording a pop vocalist as well, so she was putting hours into mastering that as well. The girl’s name was Carrie and had sent a demo in a few months back and Ted liked her sound, so he’d invited her up to the studio. They hadn’t signed her just yet, wanting instead to get a better feel for her entire range and confidence. Because they could work with raw, he just wanted to see what she could lay out.

She was pretty easy to handle. Definitely nervous about being in a recording studio, but the other engineer on the project, Marc Marquez, had pulled Beca in to make her feel her more comfortable. It was a smart move. Beca had her relaxed and singing her face off in no time at all. She even jumped in the booth with her to help her a bit with her posture and breathing, demonstrating some singing technique as well.

“You laying your own tracks?” Marc had asked when she’d ended up back behind the desk.

“No,” Beca said. “Writing, not singing. Ted’s tried to sway me a couple of times, but that’s not what I’m here for.”

“You keep in mind that if you ever want to record something, not even official, just kicking around, I’d volunteer for that,” he said. “Probably have to fight people off.”

“Uh, thanks,” Beca said. “I’ll keep it mind, but it’s all the back of house stuff for me at the moment.” He nodded and they turned back to Carrie.

She headed back to her office, seeing that she had a message from Sara via reception in her email queue saying she could call any time this afternoon. She picked up her office line and dialed Sara’s number.

“Hello?” came a familiar voice.

“Sara, it’s Beca Mitchell,” she said. 

“Oh, hey,” Sara said. “Glad I caught up with you.”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Album’s kicking some ass, man. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Sara said.

“I kind of have an amazingly huge favor to ask you,” Beca said. “I assume that since the album’s doing so well, you guys are planning to tour it?”

“Naturally,” Sara said. “We finalised logistics last week, kicking off in two and a half months. We have the first dates lined up, announcement due in a couple days.”

“So here’s the thing,” Beca said. “I’m planning to propose to Aubrey very soon, and-”

“Oh that’s awesome, Beca!” Sara said. “Shit, sorry. Continue.”

“If you were planning on performing I Choose You at a New York show, I was hoping I could steal a moment,” Beca said. “I’m happy to pay whatever for the tickets, but that song is pretty in sync with the whole me and Bree deal and it would be fucking perfect. But yes, I know that it’s a lot to ask of you considering we’ve only done the one album together-”

“No, hell yeah you can,” Sara said. “As if I’m gonna say no to that. I’m doing two New York dates to kick it off so pick one, VIP tickets on me and we’ll talk details closer, if you can wait that long.”

“Oh man, you’re the best,” Beca said. “Of course I’ll wait that long. I owe you so much.”

“I’ll send the email through right now,” Sara said. “I’m actually kind of excited. This will be awesome.”

“I know people say not to do a grand big thing,” Beca said. “But Bree and I, we’ve talked about this for years. It’s always been a when, not an if. We’ve always had marriage in the crosshairs.”

“Sweet,” she said. “Anyway, I have to run now, but we’ll talk soon.”

“Sure, and thanks again, Sara. It means a lot.” She hung up and couldn’t help but do a Fat Amy style fist pump. It had been a big risk, but Sara was cool so she’d been hopeful. She texted Cynthia Rose with the update, and her cell rang almost immediately.

“Oh my god, Beca,” she said. “You got the gods smiling on you or some shit. But that’s so cool, man, it’s all falling into place.”

“I know,” Beca said. “I mean, it’s still a couple months off since the tour hasn’t even been announced. But I can wait.”

“Well no shit, because it’s a given that she’s saying yes,” Cynthia Rose said. “I haven’t told Natalie or anyone.”

“Chloe knows,” Beca said. “And Bree’s dad, my dad and now Sara. But I don’t mind if you tell Natalie. How’s she going looking for work up here?”

“Oh, yeah, that reminds me,” Cynthia Rose said. “She wanted me to ask if she could crash at your place next month for a couple of days. She’s got some interviews lined up and she might look around for places as well.”

“Of course, dude, tell her to text me with the dates,” Beca said. 

“She gave her school notice,” Cynthia Rose said. “They’re interviewing for her replacement really soon. They were bummed she’s leaving but they appreciate that they got so much notice.”

“Have you told your boss?” Beca asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “He was whatever. Interns aren’t hard to find. But I kind of felt like maybe he didn’t believe me? I don’t care man, I’m just so happy that I’ll be in New York chasing something sweet in terms of career. It’s the dream.”

“I know, dude,” Beca said. “I know. But sure, Nat can crash here as long as she needs. And I’ll check if Aubrey got in touch with her dad about that real estate guy. He hooked us up in like, a day.”

“Awesome,” Cynthia Rose said. “Talk soon?”

“Sure,” Beca said. She hung up and checked her work email to see that Sara had emailed her already. The two dates were a Saturday and Sunday. She quickly pulled her phone out and double checked that there wasn’t anything on the calendar, and picked the Saturday, emailing Sara back. Then she paused and thought about how ridiculous it was that she actually had Sara Bareilles’ mobile number and email address. Perks of the job.

She was emailing off files of her last completed tracks to Annie before she was going to sit down with all of her social media. Her sessions with the media team were immensely helpful. Despite everything she knew about computers, she was all too aware of her shortcomings when it came to social media. They’d gone through with her to make sure there wasn’t anything potentially damaging on any of her accounts - Beca was sure there wasn’t, she didn’t really post often enough for anything bad to make it on there.

They’d talked about password security. That much Beca knew. She was secure as hell. Her passwords for everything were differing strings of random letters, numbers and characters at least ten digits long. And she never forgot them, she had good faculty for remembering them. So they’d been pleased. 

Then came the less pleasant stuff. She wasn’t famous or anything, but if she started getting some attention, then she’d also start getting interest from hackers. She was advised against using any cloud service for personal backups, told not to use Snapchat for anything she wouldn’t want seen by the general public. Beca didn’t even have Snapchat and she resolved never to download it.

She stuck to the three big ones - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Her Facebook was locked down tight, nothing was visible to anyone she wasn’t already friends with. She was happy to have her Twitter stay as public as hell, and then they talked Instagram. Because Beca used Instagram a lot, it was nice to see pictures of the Bellas and what they were all up to. She didn’t want to shut it down out of paranoia. But they advised her to keep an eye on it. Apparently it was common for someone to have a second private one when things got out of control. 

She also vowed to start using it more. Since it was tied to her professionally now, she thought it might be a good idea to swing the content to a more professional vibe too. Shots of mixing desks and coffee cups, tangled cables, people through booth windows that sort of thing, interspersed with shots of her and Aubrey eating various brunch foods or walking around New York. Since Sara had name dropped her on Twitter, her follower counts had increased on both Twitter and Instagram.

She noted a couple of comments that were a little crude, but she ignored them. It wasn’t hard. No amount of comments requesting she sit on someone’s face was going to stop her being madly in love with Aubrey. 

She finished off her day a little earlier than most, and headed home on the subway. The streets were still a semi-melted slushy grey mess. But winter was on its way out, she could feel it getting just a little bit warmer. They still had to rug up at night, but the days weren’t quite so biting.

Aubrey’s line was delayed a little, and she called Beca to let her know. Beca decided to hold off on ordering dinner, craving a big, cheesy pizza on this particular night. Aubrey looked tired when she got home, so Beca simply kissed her soundly and bundled her off into a hot bath while she ordered the dinner. Aubrey got out of the bath looking happier but still tired, and they ate the pizza tucked under a blanket on the couch.

“Anything in particular making you tired?” Beca asked.

“Just a slight cold, I think,” Aubrey said, “Combined with lots of reading.”

“You’re getting sick?” Beca asked.

“Slight cold,” Aubrey reiterated. “Promise. And it’d be better if the type on those pages wasn’t so god damn tiny.”

“Anything I can do to make you feel better?” Beca asked. Aubrey just shifted toward her and Beca held her. They leaned into the couch and Beca felt Aubrey relax.

“That already feels better,” she murmured.

“Good,” Beca replied. “I love you, Bree. Anything I can do to make you feel better, and I’m in.” She kissed her on the temple.

“I just need you,” Aubrey said. “Doesn’t matter what, long as I’ve got you, I’m fine.” Beca just tightened her arms a little and began to hum quietly. She was smiling from ear to ear even though Aubrey couldn’t see. She couldn’t wait to ask Aubrey to marry her. She would, of course, wait. But just having her in her arms, like this, it was the best feeling in the world.

“Come on,” Beca said. “Let’s go to bed.”

“Okay,” Aubrey said sleepily. They got up and washed up, and as soon as they were in bed Aubrey tugged Beca toward her. She kissed Beca softly and then snuggled further into her.

“Need anything else?” Beca asked. “Water, anything?” Aubrey just shook her head and slung Beca’s arm across her body.

“Nope.” Aubrey did tend to get a little clingy when she was sick. But it didn’t seem too serious, and she didn’t exactly need a reason to be a doting girlfriend.

“Before I forget,” Beca said, “Natalie is coming to stay here for a few days next month while she interviews for new jobs. CR asked me today and I said it was cool.”

“That’s fine,” Aubrey said. “I like Natalie.” Aubrey sounded really drowsy now, so Beca didn’t speak any further.

When she woke in the morning, Aubrey was still sniffling. Not particularly ill, but definitely under the weather. Beca tried in vain to get her to consider staying home, but it was no use. 

“Well, at least promise me that if you feel worse, you come home and get some rest,” Beca said. “Don’t overwork yourself, you’ll just end up getting sicker for longer.”

“Promise,” Aubrey said. She pecked Beca quickly and they separated ways. 

Beca’s primary job for the next little while was recording another album with Jason. It was a debut album for a band that Jason personally requested. They had an older sound, and he said just listening to them made him feel twenty years younger. It was good to be working with Jason again, they were comfortable together in the studio. He introduced Beca to the band members.

“Everyone, this is Beca Mitchell, the second chair for this album,” he said. “Beca, this is Jon, Finn, Riley and Duncan.” They all looked at her blankly for a second.

“Hey,” one of them said. Beca felt like maybe they weren’t convinced she could assist them in any way at all.

“First up,” Jason said, “Lighten the fuck up. Have some fun with this album, it’s your first one. Take it too seriously and you’ll regret it. Second, don’t second guess Beca. She might be a five foot tall, scowly white girl who looks about sixteen, but she knows her shit. She just nailed up tracks with Sia, sold some shit to Major Lazer, and she did an amazing job on Sara Bareilles’ first record. Plus she plays more instruments than all of you combined. So if you can’t work with someone like Beca, you can’t work here, and you’ll probably find it hard to work with anyone.”

“Whatever,” another one of them said.

“I’m serious,” Jason said. “I asked for her on this record. She’s good. Better than good.” They nodded, and Beca couldn’t tell if they were just plying him with the right answer or possibly a little stoned. The studio was set up, so the band went in to soundcheck and warm up, the two engineers talking amidst the noise.

“What was that about?” Beca asked Jason. “Bit of a lecture there.”

“The prelim meeting, they were kind of dickish,” Jason admitted. “And if they pull that with me, an established name who’s been in this industry for decades, I didn’t want them thinking they could roll all over you. I’m sure you can stand up for yourself, Becky, but these guys... They might be something one day if they can get their heads on straight. And it starts now.”

“Oh,” Beca said. “Thanks. I mean, I knew all my recording jobs weren’t going to be as easy as Sara though. I guess this’ll be good for me.” She shook her head and hit the button through to the booth.

“Rhythm guitar, whoever you are,” she said.

“Finn,” the guy said. “And vocals.”

“Finn, your G and B strings are slightly sharp,” Beca said. “Sort that out before we run tape, please?” The bass player rolled his eyes, which everybody saw, but Finn checked his tuning and fixed up the strings in question.

“There you go,” Jason said, “it looks like you’ve already got Finn on board.”

They ran some tape for the rest of the afternoon, as the group discussed where they were going to start. They seemed to come to a consensus about one song, and had two decent takes recorded by the end of the work day. The band filed out, two of them actually speaking to Beca as they left the studio. 

“You have that other pop chick in the studio in the morning, don’t you?” Jason said. 

“Yeah, Carrie,” Beca said. “She comes in and sings for like three or four hours. Last session for her, then Ted's gonna think her over.”

“Right,” Jason said. “It’s not normal to do more than one recording job at once, but it’ll work. Something tells me these guys aren’t going to be doing their best work first thing in the morning anyway.” Beca grinned.

“Um, on that issue,” Beca said. “I haven’t really had a chance to speak to Annie about how we handle out of hours recording. Like, say these guys wanted to pull an all nighter?”

“Well, you can say no,” Jason said. “Sometimes it’ll be worth it, and you’ll know it when you get to it. If they’re being assholes and just wasting tape and time, then tell them to get the fuck out. You call the shots. But honestly, Becky, there’s only a few people you should ever consider out of hours for.”

“Beyonce?” Beca said.

“She’d be one,” he said with a laugh. 

“That’s good,” Beca said. “I know this kind of job is going to be demanding, but I don’t want to work so much that I never see Bree.”

“How is the other half?” Jason asked as they made their way out of the suite.

“A little under the weather,” Beca said. “Nothing too serious. But her trip to Geneva was very successful, she’s doing some interesting shit over at the UN.”

“That’s good,” he said. “I like her. Hope she feels better soon.” Beca headed back to her office to pick up her stuff and check her messages before she left. Then she quickly called Aubrey.

“Hey,” the blonde said. She sounded worse than that morning.

“Oh, you sound bad,” Beca said. 

“I left work early, I’m already at home,” Aubrey said. “And I’ve been told to keep my germs at home tomorrow as well.”

“Do you need me to stop and get you anything?” Beca said. “I’m just about to leave now.”

“Something to get rid of this headache,” Aubrey said. “And some soup?”

“Anything you want,” Beca said.

“I’m going to take a hot bath and then try and take a nap,” Aubrey said. “I know I shouldn’t sleep so late but I’m exhausted.”

“Well I’ll wake you when I get home,” Beca said. “If you need anything else, just text me.”

“Okay,” Aubrey said. “Love you.”

“I love you, too, Bree,” Beca said. She tugged her jacket on and headed home, stopping for the painkillers and some Nyquil for Aubrey, and then picking up soup on the block next to theirs so it would stay hot while she walked home. 

Aubrey was under two blankets on the couch, and she stirred only as Beca closed the door behind her. Beca dropped the soup on the coffee table and sat down, wanting to check how her girlfriend was.

“Hey, how you feeling?” Beca asked quietly. 

“It’s just a cold,” Aubrey said. “Enough that I feel lousy. I wanted to stay at work but my head was hurting just looking at my computer screen.”

“I brought soup,” Beca said. “But let me get you some cold and flu tablets and water first.” She gently pressed the back of her hand to Aubrey’s forehead. She didn’t notice any fever, but she had slight dark circles under her eyes and they were drooping.

“Okay,” Aubrey said. She got up and went to the bathroom, while Beca shed her jacket and grabbed some water and painkillers for Aubrey. The blonde shuffled back in and took the pills, before leaning toward Beca for a quick hug.

“Just get this soup down and you can go back to bed,” Beca promised. “The Nyquil should be kicking in by then. And then I’ll take a shower and stay with you.” They ate the soup together and Beca convinced Aubrey to drink the rest of the bottle of water. She was starting to get drowsy again when she was finished, so Beca took her into the bedroom and tucked her into bed. She placed a bottle of water on the night stand next to her.

“You coming to bed soon?” Aubrey asked.

“I just want to take a shower,” Beca said. “I’m going to call CR, and then I’ll be in. I know you like company when you’re sick.” Aubrey smiled sleepily at her, so Beca quietly grabbed her pajamas and made her way into the bathroom.


	24. Chapter 24

Aubrey wasn’t any better when she woke up the next morning. She now sounded congested and sniffly, so Beca got up and readied herself for work. Aubrey was stirring, so she made her some green tea and a piece of toast and took it in to her.

 

“Hey,” she said softly. “You don’t sound so good today.”

 

“I don’t feel great either,” Aubrey said. Then she smiled groggily. “Did you bring me tea and toast?”

 

“I did,” Beca said. “How’s your head today?”

 

“Still aching,” Aubrey said.

 

“Let me go and grab you some water and aspirin,” Beca said. “You need to take it easy and rest today, Bree. No reading case studies or data, just rest.”

 

“Okay,” she said. “Promise.” Beca went and got her a glass of water and the aspirin.

 

“If you need me to bring anything home with me today, just let me know,” Beca said. “And I’ll call and check on you. But I’ll text first so I know you’re not sleeping.” She kissed Aubrey on her forehead. It was warm. Not significantly warm, but definitely warmer than it should be. She finished getting ready for work and then went back in to check on Aubrey.

 

“I’m going now,” she said. “Let me know if you need anything, okay? I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” Aubrey said. She was already looking drowsy again. “I might just sleep some more. I think I only woke up because I heard you get up and subconsciously felt like I had to get up for work.” She’d eaten the toast and drunk the tea, though.

 

“Good idea,” Beca said. “Need another blanket?” Aubrey shook her head and burrowed back down into the bed. Beca smoothed some hair from her head for a moment and then headed out to work.

 

Her day at work progressed pretty normally. She had a lot to do, but she made sure she spoke to Aubrey a couple of times. The first time she’d texted Aubrey hadn’t responded but had called her about ten minutes later. She’d been in the shower, which had helped, she said, but she still felt crummy. When she’d called just after lunch, the blonde had been thinking about another nap. And when she’d called just before she was leaving for the day, Aubrey requested some chamomile tea and some more aspirin.

 

“Do you want me to stop and get you some dinner as well?” Beca asked.

 

“Not hungry,” Aubrey said. “I had the rest of the soup earlier.”

 

“Okay,” Beca said. “I’ll be home soon.” She bundled herself up and headed home, stopping to get the chamomile tea and aspirin, and then stopping closer to home for some pasta for herself. She got home and found Aubrey sitting on the couch under a blanket. Her eyes had dark circles rimming them and she still looked exhausted.

 

“Hey,” she said. Beca came over to check on her.

 

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

 

“Tired,” Aubrey said. “Sniffly. But okay. Like I said, just a cold, just need some rest.”

 

“You called in and said you wouldn’t be in tomorrow, though, right?” Beca asked.

 

“Yep,” Aubrey said. “Terry said to stay off until I felt better. I mean, it’s just a cold, but colds are spread more easily than just about anything. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow afternoon. Even if I pop in for a couple of hours and then come home if I feel tired. I just don’t want the work to pile up.”

 

“You just need to focus on getting better,” Beca said. She pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Still not hungry?” Aubrey shook her head.

 

“I’ll eat some fruit later if I get hungry,” Aubrey said. “What’d you buy?”

 

“Pasta,” Beca said. “I’ll eat here now and hang out with you and then take a shower.” She got some cutlery and some water for Aubrey and returned to the living room. Aubrey was watching TV, and after Beca had eaten and taken her shower, she curled up next to her. Aubrey immediately leaned against her, Beca’s arm wrapping around her. Her hand stroked through Aubrey’s hair and she felt Aubrey relax.

 

“You’re still a little warm,” Beca observed.

 

“Yeah, but I’ll be fine,” Aubrey said. Beca kept stroking her hair until she realised Aubrey had fallen asleep. It was still early but she knew the blonde would be more comfortable in bed, so she gently shook her awake.

 

“Bree,” she said. “Come on, you fell asleep.” Aubrey stirred and nodded, then got up. Beca helped her back into the bedroom and tucked her in. She went and got a cold bottle of water and some ibuprofen to help get rid of the fever. She made Aubrey drink at least half the bottle, but then turned out the lights and left her to sleep.

 

Aubrey seemed to be feeling a little better in the morning, and was starting to get her appetite back. It was a good sign, so Beca felt okay about leaving her to go to work. She called just after lunch and Aubrey mentioned that she’d likely work at least half a day the next day. Beca promised she’d bring home anything she wanted for dinner, and the blonde requested Thai, saying that the ginger and chili and garlic would only benefit her.

 

When she got home Aubrey was wearing actual clothes and not just pajamas, so Beca knew definitively she was feeling better. There was a book on the table next to the couch, so clearly her headache had resolved as well.

 

“It did,” Aubrey said, when Beca asked about it. “But I actually think I may need my eyes tested. I suspect reading glasses might be in my future.”

 

“Blurry?”

 

“I thought it was just the headache to be honest,” Aubrey said. “But I have no headache at all and things are still a little fuzzy.”

 

“I think you’d look hot in a pair of glasses,” Beca said. “Make sure you get tested soon, though.” Aubrey nodded and carried the takeout to the coffee table. Beca told her about what she’d been working on, the recording job with Jason and how different it was.

 

She’d managed to win over all of them but the bass player in the first two days, which had been relatively easy. She suspected the bass player might just be an asshole - Jason tended to agree - and she definitely wasn’t losing any sleep over it. Jason had given her the proper pep talk one afternoon. A decent band these days might last ten, fifteen years if they’re lucky. But Beca could have a career spanning decades, because there was always a new band or a new artist looking to make a record. Good producers outlasted good artists, without fail.

 

The singer she’d recorded for Ted, Carrie, was being sent a formal contract offer for an album. Annie was asking her to do the entire engineering process, and then she’d get someone in to help her master. Beca had wondered if she was ready for such a big responsibility, but Annie had addressed that in her trademark no-bullshit manner.

 

“Mitchell, do you really think I’d waste our time and money getting you to do this if you weren’t ready for it?” she’d leveled at her. That had been an effective tool for Beca. Because she held Annie in the highest regard when it came to all things Epic, so if she was that confident in Beca, then she could obviously do it. So she was still nervous, but she was also excited. Because this was her first solo record and Carrie was a nice girl and she felt like she’d be good to work with.

 

Aubrey texted her after lunch to say she was booked in for the optometrist the next afternoon, which meant she’d only be working til lunch and then cutting out early for the second day in a row. That actually pleased Beca, because she didn’t want Aubrey coming home having worked too hard and making herself sick again.

 

Aubrey was tired but appeared a lot better than the previous night. She explained she was more tired than expected but she had avoided taking a late nap that day when she’d got home from work so she’d sleep okay that night. It was solid logic, and after eating some dinner, Beca tucked her into bed.

 

She worked a little, in between chatting with Chloe on Facebook. She told her about her plan for the proposal and received numerous replies in all caps with excessive punctuation for the next five minutes. She assumed that was Chloe’s way of saying she approved. But she didn’t stay up too long, wanting instead to slide into bed next to her sick girlfriend.

 

Aubrey had improved again by the morning, now only a minor stuffiness in her sinuses remaining from the cold. Beca couldn’t believe how quick she recovered from illnesses. The last cold Beca had, she’d been in bed for close to a week. They separated at the entrance of their building, Aubrey sliding into the backseat of a cab - her subway line was heavily delayed - and Beca heading to catch her own train. Beca made her promise to call after her optometrist appointment, Aubrey saying she would, and she’d take care of dinner since she’d be home early.

 

The day’s recording with the band had gone pretty well. The bass player still rarely spoke to Beca, but the other three were much more verbose now and were quite happy exchanging ideas with Beca about the record. Aubrey called mid afternoon to let her know that she was now on her way home, and that she did in fact need reading glasses. She was picking them up the following Wednesday morning. Apparently her eyesight wasn’t ridiculously bad, but given that her job entailed large amounts of reading and computer work, they were quick to recommend them. Beca told her she should be home on time and she’d see her then.

 

“How is the better half?” Jason asked after she’d hung up. The band had gone for a cigarette break and they were drinking coffee while they waited. “You said she was feeling a bit off.”

 

“She’s alright,” Beca said. “She’s had a bit of a cold this week and she’s also just found out she needs glasses, but in general she’s pretty good.”

 

“You’re really in that sweet spot at the moment, aren’t you kid?” he said.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Career’s looking good, home’s looking good,” he said.

 

“Yeah, things are pretty sweet,” Beca said. “I mean, my life hasn’t been without it’s bullshit - Peter for one, and there’s other stuff - but I’m happy. And five years ago, me being happy would mean that I was an anxious mess waiting for something bad to happen. But that’s not how I roll anymore. Long as I’ve got Bree and music, I’m good.”

 

“Well, it’s good,” Jason said. “Would hate to see you get caught up in some of the nasty shit that can crop up in this industry. I mean, I don’t mean to scare you or anything, but there’ll come a time when people try and sway you towards stuff you’re gonna want no part of.”

 

“Are we talking bribes or drugs or hookers?” Beca asked.

 

“All of the above, sometimes simultaneously,” Jason said. “I’ve been around a lot of years, Becky. Seen many an up and comer snort their career away or ruin a great relationship because they couldn’t resist the skirt for hire.”

 

“I’m not that kinda person, Jason,” Beca said.

 

“No, I don’t think you are,” he said. “You strike me as more of the introverted, homebody type.”

 

“Accurate,” Beca replied. “Sure I’ll go to stuff when Epic asks, but I’m never really going to be doing the marathon party sessions. I like bed, and sleep, and Aubrey. I’d rather drink coffee than alcohol and I’d rather eat pizza than hundred dollar cuisine, and I would always, always rather wear sweats than a fancy dress.”

 

“Annie told me that you know she’s taking a bit of a personal interest in you,” Jason said.

 

“Yeah,” Beca said. “It’s pretty cool. I mean, I’ve got a lot of respect for her.”

 

“She wants me to be on Team Becky,” he said. “Not that you need protecting or shepherding or anything. But starting out in this business, you’ll need people you can go to for advice. Like Annie. And now, if you like, me.”

 

“I really appreciate that, Jason,” Beca said. “I value your experience. And your tendency not to bother with all the fancy bullshit. I have a feeling you ever only call it as you see it, no beating around the bush.” He laughed.

 

“Yeah, I’m too old and too British for that shit,” he said. The boys started straggling back in, so they turned their attention back to the desk.

 

When Beca got home, Aubrey was waiting with dinner and a cold beer. Beca kissed her soundly before taking a sip and dropping her stuff on the kitchen counter. She parked on one stool, Aubrey sitting next to her.

 

“You okay?” Aubrey asked.

 

“Just a long day,” Beca said. “A little tired, but I’m fine. Still working on that album with the band and then I spent a bit of time getting ready for Carrie’s album, we’re recording end of the month. But glasses, huh?”

 

“Yeah,” Aubrey said. “Not super strong, but definitely necessary. I mean, the type in most of the stuff I’m reading is tiny. I’ll read on computer until I get them, zoom in.”

 

“What kind of frames did you pick?” Beca asked.

 

“Nothing fancy,” Aubrey said. “I snapped a quick selfie so you can have a look after dinner, if you want.”

 

“Regardless, I bet you look hot,” Beca said teasingly.

 

“You’re incorrigible,” Aubrey said.

 

“Only because you’re, like, a mega babe,” Beca said. “Can’t help it.” Aubrey leaned over and kissed her.

 

“I love you,” she said to Beca.

 

“Yeah, I love you too,” Beca replied. “Like, a lot.” They ate together and then Beca headed for a shower. Aubrey was watching something on television, what exactly Beca didn’t really know. But she grabbed them both another beer and sank in next to her.

 

“So Jason and I were talking today,” Beca said. “Annie’s apparently roped him in on this mentoring deal. But he was saying it seems like I’m in the sweet spot right now. And he’s right.”

 

“Sweet spot?”

 

“Work’s going great,” Beca said. “And home’s going great. And the more I thought about it, I realised he was right.”

 

“So you’re happy, is what I’m hearing,” Aubrey said.

 

“Really, really happy,” Beca said. “And watch me get really sappy right now, but a lot of it is because of you, Bree. I love you, and having you makes me feel like I can do anything. You make me happy. The happiest.” Aubrey immediately deposited her bottle on the table and pulled the smaller woman toward her. She kissed her hard.

 

“You make me happy too,” Aubrey said against her mouth. “So unbelievably happy.” Beca wrapped her arms around the blonde and kissed her again. She couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, knowing that in a relatively short amount of time, she’d be asking Aubrey to marry her.

 

Aubrey’s body leaned into hers, pressing her down into the couch. She willingly lay back and got lost in her beautiful girlfriend’s kisses. The kisses got more involved, and before long Aubrey was tugging Beca up off of the couch and toward the bedroom, stripping her shirt off before they even made it down the hallway.

 

When Beca arrived at work the next morning, she had a message to call Jason’s office. She picked up her phone and dialed his extension.

 

“Becky,” he said. “Looks like we don’t have to worry about recording.”

 

“What do you mean?” she asked.

 

“I walked into the room off the studio this morning and the bass player and singer were doing lines of coke off the top of the microwave,” he sighed. “They can do whatever the hell they like on their own time but we don’t tolerate that shit inside our studios.”

 

“Are you fucking serious?” Beca asked.

 

“Yep,” Jason said. “Put the call in to Ted Shepherd, and they were gone in the next twenty minutes. Talking a little about suing us, but he basically dared them to try.”

 

“What idiots,” Beca said.

 

“Normally people get swept up in the coke after they’re famous,” he said. “Not these knuckleheads. Shame, I had plans for them. Regardless, you’ve got a free hole in your calendar for a while.”

 

“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll probably just put some songwriting in, shoot around some ideas for Carrie.”

 

“When does she start?”

 

“Monday week,” Beca said. “I’ll call her later today.” Beca took a look at her schedule. She smiled for a second, because Aubrey had a lot to do with how easy it was for her to read that thing. Of course, she was the most organized person on the planet and she’d helped her figure out how to keep a clear and easy to read schedule.

 

She added a reminder to call Carrie later in the day and then shifted toward the keyboard and mixing unit that was pretty much permanently set up in her office. Simon Price from inventory said she signed it out so often that she may as well just keep it and he’d let her know if she needed to bring it back for any reason. She was steadily working on music, generally able to commit at least a few hours a day to it, if not half her work day. Annalise liked to come by periodically and hear what she was working on. Such was the case just as Beca was almost done with her burger and fries; Annie rapped on the doorframe and stuck her head inside.

 

“Am I interrupting?” she said. She had a cup of coffee in hand.

 

“No, come in,” Beca said. “Quick lunch break, but yeah, got some free time up my sleeve so I’m putting solid hours into songwriting for the album I’m doing with Carrie.”

 

“Oh, good,” Annie said. “I’ll have guys lined up for you Tuesday if you want to run some loose versions past them, give them a bit of a feel of what you have. She bringing her own stuff?”

 

“She said she has a couple,” Beca said. “I do have one that’s pretty much nailed up and ready for her vocal if you want to hear it and don’t mind my voice on it for now.”

 

“You know I want to hear this,” Annie said. Beca put the last bit of her burger down and cued it up on her laptop, finishing off her lunch while it played. Annie didn’t even pretend she wasn’t into it.

 

“Shit, Beca,” she said. “That’s a chart topper. Like, no god damned question. You really think Carrie can lay the vocal on it, though?”

 

“I think with the right encouragement she won’t just lay a vocal, she’ll crush the vocal,” Beca said. “She’s still a little reserved, but I feel like I can probably bring it out of her. Any tips on the arrangement?”

 

“You planning on putting a full backing track on that?”

 

“I was going to try,” Beca said.

 

“Leave it. Leave it the way it is, all dance pop and electro. Make whatever fine tuning and adjustments you want, but that’s a club song, not a band song,” Annie said.

 

“For sure,” Beca said. She played her a couple more half finished bits she had been working on and they chatted about work for a bit. But before she left, Annie insisted again that releasing that song straight off the back of the work she’d done with Sara, the song she’d sold to Major Lazer and the work she’d done with Sia, she wouldn’t be surprised if Beca ended up getting a lot of attention.

 

That pretty much elated Beca for the rest of the day, to the point where, after making a call to Carrie, she found it easy to spend the rest of the day working. She didn’t even realise it was twenty after five until Aubrey texted her phone to ask if she’d had any ideas about dinner. She called her, and simultaneously began shutting stuff down.

 

“Hey,” Aubrey said.

 

“Hey,” Beca said. “So, I haven’t even left work yet. I’m sorry, I got kinda caught up.”

 

“You haven’t left?”

 

“No,” Beca said. “But I’m shutting down right now. Annie was here before lunch and we got talking, put me in a really good groove and I lost track of time. I’ll explain when I see you.”

 

“No, it’s okay,” Aubrey said. “I’m about fifteen minutes away.”

 

“I won’t be long,” Beca said. “Hey, let’s go to that Greek place we like. Eat gyros until we’re fat.”

 

“Oh, that sounds awesome,” Aubrey said. “Good call. I’ll be waiting.”

 

“Love you, Bree,” she said.

 

“Love you, too,” Aubrey replied. She hung up and stuck a handful of her things in her bag and then locked the door so she could head out.

 

Aubrey was just tugging shoes on when she got home, having changed out of her work clothes and taken a shower. The blonde got up and after allowing her to deposit her bag on the kitchen counter, swept her up in a passionate kiss.

 

“Hello to you, too,” Beca said, wrapping her arms around her.

 

“Just feeling a lot better,” Aubrey said. “And I love you.” Beca kissed her again.

 

“Not a complaint,” she said. “Ready?”

 

“You don’t wanna change?”

 

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” Beca said. They headed toward the Greek place, it was only a block and a half away.

 

“So I played this track for Annie today,” Beca said. “I wrote it for that girl I told you about who’ll be coming in to record soon. And yeah, she’s basically swearing black and blue that it’s a chart topper, gonna make me famous level good.”

 

“That’s awesome,” Aubrey said. “I mean, I don’t know Annie that well, but from what you’ve said she doesn’t just say stuff like that unless she means it.”

 

“Nope, she doesn’t,” Beca said. Aubrey tightened her grip on Beca’s hand.

 

“I’m really proud of you,” she said. They walked on a bit further and Aubrey snuck a glance at Beca. She was still so wildly in love with her, more and more every day. Seeing her flourishing in her career and how happy it made her, it was just reinforcing her feelings for her.

 

She wondered if Beca ever thought about marriage, about whether they were approaching a point where they might start heading toward that. Because they both knew that’s what they wanted, but they hadn’t been in a hurry. Beca hadn’t even been living in New York a year. And Aubrey could wait, she really could. But when it felt so perfect already, was there a point?

 

She mulled it over and, not wanting to pressure Beca - she was still three years younger than her after all, she decided she’d at least wait until they hit a year living together before she tried to table a discussion about it. They reached the Greek restaurant, and Beca held the door, hand familiarly guiding Aubrey on the small of her back as she passed, bringing another smile to her lips. God, she loved her.


	25. Chapter 25

The next morning Beca surveyed her girlfriend over their shared morning coffee. Aubrey had gotten quiet last night and it had lasted a lot longer than she’d expected. She wasn’t getting the feeling like anything was wrong, but she still felt like something was different.  
   
“You okay?” Beca asked. “You haven’t really said much since we went out for dinner last night.”  
   
“Oh, sorry,” Aubrey said. “I was just thinking.”  
   
“Anything important?”  
   
“Not specifically,” Aubrey said. “Just looking back on what an amazing year we’ve had, how much I love you, that sort of thing.”  
   
“And how much do you love me?” Beca asked, moving toward her and tangling their fingers together.  
   
“I love you more than any thing or any one on the planet,” Aubrey said. Beca lifted onto her toes and kissed her passionately.  
   
“I love you, too,” she said. “I love you so much it’s crazy. Do we have plans for today or tomorrow?”  
   
“I need to at least try and get some reading for work done,” Aubrey said. “I was gonna maybe call Chloe later. So nothing pressing.”  
   
“So if I theoretically wanted to take you out tonight,” Beca said, “Someplace nice and just a bit fancy?”  
   
“What’s the occasion?”  
   
“No occasion needed,” Beca said. “I just feel like going out.”  
   
“I’m in,” Aubrey said. She rinsed her mug and put it in the dishwasher, Beca finishing hers before doing the same. Instead of letting her pass through the doorway, Aubrey stopped her and kissed her. Beca let her arms wrap around Aubrey’s neck as she let her weight fall against her and press her into the doorframe. Aubrey’s hands slipped inside her shirt easily and caressed her back. One of the hands stayed put but the other skimmed softly downwards into the back of the flannel pants she’d tugged on that morning.  
   
Beca felt the hand cupping her ass and let one of her legs slip in between Aubrey’s. She felt the involuntary rock of Aubrey’s body against her as she felt the pressure and smiled against her mouth. Aubrey pushed against her and Beca found herself pressed against the opposite doorframe as the older woman left a blistering kiss on her.  
   
“I need you,” she said simply into Beca’s ear. Her hands were already tugging the shirt she was wearing up. Once Beca’s shirt was tossed aside, Aubrey’s hands got busy. But Beca had plans of her own and was wrestling the shirt off of Aubrey and trying to push her pants down at the same time.  
   
They stumbled in a tangle toward the bedroom, Aubrey landing on the bed and pulling Beca toward her. The smaller girl stood in between her legs and kissed her slowly.  
   
“I. Need. You.” Aubrey repeated it and Beca half wanted to drag it out and see what happened. But Aubrey had taken her hand and dipped it between her legs, already wet and warm.  
   
“Okay,” was all Beca could manage as she lowered Aubrey down. She let her mouth gravitate toward her breasts, but didn’t want to torture the obviously needy Aubrey any further. The first finger slid in easily, and at the second Aubrey let out a muffled noise of what sounded like relief. She built up a steady rhythm, letting her thumb gently brush Aubrey’s clit a few times.  
   
Beca left her breasts and delivered a teasing kiss to her girlfriend’s lips before skimming downward. She used both hands to grasp either sides of Aubrey’s body, the older woman making her displeasure at the removal of Beca’s hand well known, but Beca was kissing downward. The protests quickly faded as she softly kissed up her inner thigh, smoothed her hands over her lower abdomen and looked upward.  
   
“Please,” Aubrey said. “Beca.” Their eyes stayed locked as Beca finally made contact with her center, and they stayed that way until Aubrey’s pleasure made it too difficult to keep them open. Beca’s tongue was moving fast and she had a fingertip gently circling Aubrey’s clit. Eventually she switched it up and let her mouth encircle the swollen nub, driving her fingers back inside Aubrey firmly. Her hips were canting upward with every thrust and it wasn’t long before Aubrey finally hit her orgasm. Beca loved watching those first moments afterward. Aubrey’s chest heaved as she tried to suck in enough air to even out her breathing, her toned and gorgeous body was just slightly sheening with sweat. It was beautiful. She clambered upward and delivered a soft kiss to her lips.  
   
“God I needed that,” the blonde managed.  
   
“Evidently,” Beca said. Aubrey pulled her in and held her close for a bit, until she had the energy to reciprocate. Beca was still on top of her as she kissed her, letting her hands smooth up and down her back. It kicked off a heated makeout session; long, dirty kisses like they were sex-deprived teenagers. Aubrey’s hands were sufficiently firm grasping at Beca’s flesh, just hard enough to make her gasp with want.  
   
When she finally did roll Beca beneath her, she wasted no time slipping fingers inside her. Her tongue trailed down Beca’s jaw and as her teeth lightly closed over the crook of her neck, Beca could only suck in a breath. Aubrey’s fingers were steady and insistent, and Beca was writhing underneath her. As she felt herself draw closer, she pulled Aubrey in and kissed her again, hungrily driving her tongue into her mouth. She could barely manage an “I love you” as she hit her orgasm, instead just catching Aubrey as she fell against her and pressing breathless kisses into her hair.  
   
“You’re beautiful,” she eventually murmured into Aubrey’s hair.  
   
“And so are you,” Aubrey replied, kissing her tenderly. “Wanna come shower with me?”  
   
“That’s always going to be affirmative,” Beca said. “You don’t need to ask me that question ever again, as long as we both live. If you’re naked and in that shower, I will always join you if that’s what you want.”  
   
“Always what I want,” Aubrey said. “Though sometimes in the interest of time we might have to curtail that a bit.”  
   
“Doesn’t even have to be sex,” Beca said. “Granted, sex with you is as awesome as it’s always been. But just being close to you, doing even the most mundane things like washing… and making out, obviously.” Aubrey elbowed her lightly.  
   
“I really did get lucky when I landed you,” Aubrey said quietly. Beca decided to cut the smartass act out and just kissed her lovingly, wrapping an arm around her and holding her close for a moment.  
   
“Come on, shower,” Beca said. “Then we should probably eat so you can start looking at that work stuff.”  
   
“Good call,” Aubrey said as they got up and headed toward the bathroom. “Oh, the guys I work with want to have dinner one night next weekend. I told them I’d check with you in case you had something on.”  
   
“Either night is fine,” Beca said. “I don’t have anything planned.” They got into the shower and quickly washed up. Beca stated that she was happy to pop to the store and then cook breakfast for a change, so Aubrey could get started on her work.  
   
She made Aubrey a cup of coffee before she left, earning herself a kiss as she did so, and headed out. She didn’t grab much and was home in under an hour, immediately starting to cook. Neither of them were accomplished cooks still, but breakfast was a fairly easy task. Eggs over easy, bacon, toast, and Beca knew Aubrey liked spinach with her eggs. Not that hard to manage. She served it up just as Aubrey was ready for more coffee, so the blonde poured two cups and they ate together.  
   
“Thanks for cooking,” Aubrey said.  
   
“I figured you’ve got work to do, if we headed out we’d get distracted,” Beca said. “We could turn breakfast into a good three hour excursion. And since I want to take you out tonight, that wouldn’t be a good idea.”  
   
“Where do you want to go tonight?” Aubrey asked.  
   
“I was thinking back to that Italian place we went to with Sara that one time,” Beca said. “That was good food. If they’ve got an opening, of course.”  
   
“Sounds good to me, I’d go anywhere with you,” Aubrey said. “What are your plans for today?”  
   
“Little cleaning, nothing major,” Beca said. “I might have a look at some stuff for work later, but I don’t have any imminent deadlines.”  
   
“I love you,” Aubrey said. Beca got up and kissed her before she tidied up their plates, Aubrey heading back into the office so she could get some more work done. Beca went and grabbed cleaned up the kitchen and then went into the bathroom to clean that as well. They were generally pretty clean as it was so it didn’t take long. She figured she’d started now, so she headed to the living room and dusted and vacuumed in there as well.  
   
She checked the time and realised it would be a decent hour to call a restaurant and googled the number for Vorace. She called and enquired about a table, pleasantly surprised when they said they could fit the two of them in. Aubrey was still reading and writing at her desk, so Beca decided to make coffee and then maybe have a look at some work of her own.  
   
She topped Aubrey up and then perched at the dining table, having easily surrendered the office to Aubrey when they moved in. She had Carrie’s tracks on her computer, and slid her headphones on to see what kind of material their new hire was bringing her.  
   
She listened through the seven tracks Carrie had carefully, taking notes as she went. They weren’t bad. Not spectacular, but not bad. Well, if Beca was being honest there was one on there she wasn’t really keen on recording, but Carrie had done some nice solid groundwork on most of them. Ted Shepherd had given her about a dozen tracks as well, all from the Epic songwriters stable. She listened through all those as well and made notes, so they’d have somewhere to start when Carrie actually came in to do the preliminary meetings for her album.  
   
Normally they’d just jump in and start recording, but Carrie had no band with her, no other musicians. Her demo had been impressive but now they needed to build a sound. Find a band if necessary, or Beca could build the tracks if she wanted to stay electro. It’d be an interesting process, Beca felt. And it’d be hard, but worth it.  
   
She caught sight of the time and decided it was time for a shower and to start thinking about what to wear. She tugged her headphones off and went to check on Aubrey. Aubrey was just packing up her own stuff.  
   
“Had to stop,” Aubrey said. “Eyes were starting to hurt.” Beca came over and massaged her temples softly.  
   
“You okay?”  
   
“Yeah,” Aubrey said, her eyes slipping closed. “But that’s definitely enough reading for today.”  
   
“I was just coming to start moving us toward getting ready,” Beca said. “Vorace can fit us in at 6:30.”  
   
“I’ll jump in the shower then,” Aubrey said. “I’ll take longer to get ready than you.”  
   
“True,” Beca said. “I gotta go figure out what I’m wearing.” She headed into their bedroom and began sorting through her admittedly smaller side of the walk in robe. It was still chilly out at night, so she didn’t want to wear anything that would land her a cold. Her fingers closed over a dark grey dress that Chloe had given her but she’d only worn once. It was woolen for starters, so that was one thing crossed off - she’d be warm. The sleeves were long and she’d be able to get away with her own boots and some tights to keep her warm, plus her leather jacket.  
   
She shook her head. She didn’t understand how people took thirty years to decide what they wanted to wear. She pulled the items she wanted to wear out, keeping the dress on the hanger and then began stripping off to kick Aubrey out of the shower.  
   
There was a little making out as they crossed paths, not that either of them was complaining. But Aubrey got out and wrapped a towel around herself, heading into the bedroom. She spotted Beca’s clothes ready to go and then stepped into the wardrobe to find something she could wear. It didn’t take her long to pick a dress that she’d be able to wear long boots with, and she got into her underwear so she could start the hair and makeup process.  
   
Beca got out as she was almost done with the hair, dropping a soft kiss on her shoulder as she passed. Beca stopped in front of the mirror and eyed her own hair. The steam from the shower had curled it nicely and she didn’t plan on doing much else to it apart from taming the frizz. She quickly dressed and then did her makeup, putting the last flick of eyeliner on as Aubrey finished up as well.  
   
“Need a zip assist?” Beca asked.  
   
“Yes please,” Aubrey said. She stepped into the dress and Beca zipped her up. The smaller woman let her hands rest on Aubrey’s waist for a second, pulling her a little closer.  
   
“You look good,” Beca said appreciatively.  
   
“So do you,” Aubrey replied. She kissed Beca gently, saving both of their makeup.  
   
“I’ll call us a cab,” Beca said. Aubrey nodded and Beca disappeared. Once they were ready to leave they headed downstairs to wait for the taxi. They made small talk with Jerry who was working the door that night on the way through. Beca liked Jerry, he was always whistling some old jazz song as he manned his post.  
   
Beca still liked to be chivalrous when it came to Aubrey. She liked to open doors and pull chairs. She knew Aubrey didn’t demand it, and in no way did she think Aubrey was incapable. So when the taxi arrived, she opened the door for Aubrey to get in first.  
   
Aubrey secretly loved it. She didn’t consider herself a high maintenance girlfriend, and she wouldn’t have honestly cared if Beca didn’t do any of those things for her. But she knew Beca liked to do it as a way of showing that she loved her.  
   
The food was as good as it had been the first time they’d eaten there. Aubrey couldn’t keep her eyes off Beca, though, the loose curls framing her face just perfectly and cheeks slightly pink thanks to the warmth of the room. The restaurant may as well have been empty for all she cared. She just wanted to stare at her girlfriend.  
   
“You’re staring,” Beca said as she speared the last of her ravioli with her fork.  
   
“You’re beautiful,” Aubrey said simply. “Just getting caught up looking at you.” Beca dropped the fork and reached out to take her hand on top of the table.  
   
“I love you,” she said softly as their fingers tangled together. “Is your head feeling better?” Aubrey nodded.  
   
“Much,” she said. “Good idea coming out, by the way.”  
   
“Well, we can’t stay home all the time,” Beca said. “Still so much city left to see. Plus the food here is so good.”  
   
“Want to split dessert?” Aubrey asked.  
   
“Sure,” Beca said. “Get whatever, I’m not fussed. And some coffee.”  
   
They finished off their meal and Beca requested an Uber on her phone to take them back home. It was cold out, but the extreme chill of winter was well on it’s way to being gone. Pretty soon they wouldn’t need the heavy coats just to go out.  
   
Once they got home, they pretty much headed straight for the bedroom. Beca put some music on quietly and they talked for a while until the kissing started. They kissed for hours, not going further than that but having a hell of a lot of fun doing it. Beca couldn’t stop thinking about what it was going to be like asking Aubrey to marry her.  
   
What she didn’t know is that Aubrey was thinking the same. She was kissing Beca and imagining a wedding, a future. And once they had curled up against each other, finally letting themselves drift off to sleep, Aubrey also dreamed about it.  
   
Sunday was a lazy kind of day for the two of them. They spent much of the morning in bed and by the time they dragged themselves out it was almost lunchtime. They dedicated the afternoon to their respective work, before having a quiet dinner and readying themselves for the week ahead.  
   
“What’s on for you this week?” Aubrey asked as they finally settled on the couch. She pulled Beca against her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her.  
   
“I’ll spend tomorrow morning working on arrangements and tomorrow afternoon readying a studio so I can get some work done with the band,” Beca said. “I’m a bit nervous, though.”  
   
“You’ll do great,” Aubrey said. “But you’re allowed to be nervous, this is your first album as the lead so it makes sense. Just make sure you don’t let anyone walk all over you.”  
   
“I won’t,” Beca said. “What about you?”  
   
“Legal research,” Aubrey said. “Trying to draft legislation, but there’s a lot of research to be done first before we can even begin looking at drafting. Oh, and I texted Terry and told him any time is fine so Friday night is locked in.”  
   
“Awesome,” Beca said. Her eyes closed and she just focused on the feeling of Aubrey’s fingers stroking her arm softly. A smile drifted across her face. They were sitting in their quite nice apartment in New York City, a place people travelled from all over the world to come to. They both had jobs they really loved and were succeeding in. And despite all that, the very tiny feeling of Aubrey’s fingers against her skin was what felt perfect. Transplant the situation to another city, give them different jobs, and as long as Aubrey was still sitting next to her with an arm around her, she’d be happy.  
   
It felt like too long to wait to ask her to marry her at the concert. She wrestled with it in her head for a sec and decided to wait. Almost as if Aubrey magically wanted her to stop her current train of thought, she broke the silence.  
   
“Want some coffee?” she asked.  
   
“I’d love one,” Beca said. Aubrey kissed her on the cheek softly before she got up and Beca tugged her phone out of her pocket to text Cynthia Rose.  
   
 _Dude I just need to rant for a sec because Bree and I were just sitting on the couch doing nothing but I was all like - she is perfect and this is perfect and I almost fucking proposed right on the spot and I have a PLAN and everything but I almost ruined it._  
   
She felt a little better after she hit send and sat back in the couch, changing the channel on the television. There wasn’t much on but they didn’t mind watching cooking shows despite the fact that they could barely cook themselves. Her phone buzzed.  
   
 _I think you’re crazy. Nat thinks you’re cute. Not much longer now, B. You can do this. Then you got your whole life to be a massive in love dork._  
   
Beca smiled. Cynthia Rose knew how to calm her down pretty well.  
   
 _Thanks CR._  
   
Aubrey brought their coffee back and delivered to Beca, the two of them just sitting there curled up against one another. Once Aubrey was done she put her mug down and untied Beca’s hair from the messy bun at the base of her neck, running her fingers through it over and over.  
   
“Feels good,” Beca said.  
   
“Your hair is beautiful,” Aubrey said. “I meant to tell you yesterday. You barely did anything to it, but it looked amazing.” Beca gulped the last of her coffee down and shifted her body so that she could kiss Aubrey, the two of them gladly ignoring the television for the rest of the night.


	26. Chapter 26

Soon enough Beca was heading across town with Aubrey to meet her colleagues. Dinner was at Lisa's place - she and her husband had a lot of space and he really enjoyed cooking for large groups. Apparently it was a common occurrence for the team to get together at her place. Beca had insisted they at least take some wine or something for their guests.

 

The place was nice and Lisa and her husband Craig seemed like good people. They thanked Beca for the wine and showed them through to the living area. Beca met the rest of the team and made sure she mentioned how glad she was to finally meet them all. They, in turn, said the same and asked questions about what she was working on.

 

Aubrey was beyond proud of Beca. She knew her girlfriend was not always comfortable meeting new people, especially in groups, but she was doing an amazing job.

 

Craig turned out to be a hell of a cook and there was enough food present to feed a small nation. Beca complimented it more than once and soon complained that if she kept eating she'd probably explode.

 

"Don't look at me," Aubrey said, "I don't know where you put it all."

 

"Oh so no room for dessert then?" Lisa teased. 

 

"Listen here, you and I both know that's a separate stomach," Beca quipped, and everyone laughed. 

 

"Perhaps coffee first," Terry suggested, which was well received all round. Aubrey offered to help Lisa make enough for everyone and they disappeared into the kitchen. Beca sat back in her chair and appraised Aubrey's colleagues and their partners.

 

"Bree is really happy working with you guys," she said. "She's told me more than once that she's happy. And she likes making a difference. After all the other drama, I'm glad she's enjoying it so much."

 

"Well, she's doing good work," Terry said. "She's already proved herself to be a valuable team member. And in regards to the other stuff, I'm pleased she - and you, for that matter - didn't let it discolour your view of New York."

 

"No freaking way," Beca said. "I mean,  we were a bit worried before he got locked up, but nothing's gonna drive us away. We're not going anywhere any time soon."

 

They chatted some more while they all drank coffee and ate pie, and soon Beca was thanking Lisa and Craig for having them as the cab they called for pulled up. Beca opened the car door to let Aubrey in first and then slid in next to her.

 

"Your colleagues are super nice," Beca said. "And Terry loves you. Says you do good work."

 

"I like them a lot," Aubrey said. "I mean, I know I'm a little bit younger than most of them but I feel like I fit as part of the team."

 

They headed back across town to their apartment, stopping to say hello to the doorman working that night. Then it was upstairs, where Beca took a long hot shower before joining Aubrey in bed. The blonde soon discarded the book she'd been reading as her girlfriend entered. She didn't care that Beca wasn't entirely dry either, and the brunette also didn't seem to mind. 

 

The next few weeks hurried past. Beca was recording with Carrie, and they'd recorded maybe ten songs together. The artist had been nervous as anything but Beca sat down with her on the afternoon before they started to really talk about what they were doing. Because of course the girl was nervous and excited and there was a lot riding on the album. But obviously Epic had faith in her ability or they wouldn't have let her get to this stage. That had seemed to work because Carrie was crushing it in the studio. And they were also getting along really well. She was only nineteen so she was still young, and she'd brought her mother to New York to accompany her. 

 

Mike had landed the job as Beca's tech assistant for the album - which calmed her own nerves a lot - and he remarked that Beca was doing a great job more than once which buoyed her spirits. The only song they had left to record before they chose tracks for the album was the one Beca had showed to Annie in her office. 

 

Carrie was apprehensive. She loved the track, thought it was amazing. But she was worried she wasn't going to be able to pull it off. It was a big track, Beca knew that. But she had this feeling like Carrie could do it with a little bit of a push. She told Mike to take a break and headed into the booth.

 

"I can tell you're still worried about it," Beca said. "You're panicking when we get to the big notes."

 

"This is a great song," Carrie said. "I just... this feels like a song for someone who's already famous."

 

"But I want you to sing it," Beca said. "I could have shopped it around to anyone I want. But I wrote it for this album because I think that you're capable of it, you just don't know it yet. Want me to tell you something about where this song came from?"

 

"Sure," Carrie said.

 

"It's about that awesome, mind blowing feeling when you realise that you're hopelessly in love," Beca said. "That moment when you let go and decide that you're gonna ride the fuck out of that feeling because there's no way anything in the world is going to top it."

 

"Well, I'm not seeing anyone at the moment. You're in love like that right now, aren't you?" Carrie said. 

 

"Heck yeah I am," Beca said. "It's about that moment where you just submit to it, you just let it happen. Now it's definitely about my other half, don't get me wrong, but now let's imagine it from a different perspective. I'm assuming music is all you've ever wanted to do?"

 

"Always," Carrie said. "My mama has videos of me as a toddler putting on shows for the dogs. Dressed to the nines, singing into a hairbrush to Aretha and Tina and Patti."

 

"And when you're singing, when you hear that backing music kick in and right before you sing that first note?"

 

"It's the best feeling ever," Carrie said. "I'm never going to get enough of it." 

 

"Now take that feeling," Beca said. "Hold onto it. And we'll try it again." Carrie just nodded, but Beca felt like she might have gotten through to her. She headed back to the desk, not bothering to call Mike back in, and motioned that she was about to start.

 

Beca nodded along as she started. Carrie didn't really have an issue with the first half of the song, it got a lot more challenging toward the middle. As they started approaching the more adventurous parts, Beca held her breath a for a second.

 

Carrie nailed it. She'd stopped worrying, and embraced the feeling they'd been talking about. She absolutely crushed the vocal, beyond what Beca had hoped for. By the end of the track she couldn't even wipe the smile off of her face. As the arrangement ended she hit a couple of buttons and told Carrie to get her ass into the booth.

 

"You fucking nailed it," Beca said. Carrie hugged her hard. 

 

"I just did what you said, remembered how good it feels to be singing, and the fact that I'm even here in this studio and it kind of just..." she gestured wordlessly.

 

"You nailed it," Beca repeated. "Sit down and have a listen to this. I don't even think we need to run another take, it was god damn perfect." She hit play on the take and the two of them sat there listening together. Carrie was grinning ear to ear.

 

"Oh my god," she said, starting to tear up. "That's kind of incredible."

 

"Hell yeah it is," Beca said. "Now this is your album so you get to make the calls about what we keep and what we use as singles, but in my opinion you're out of your mind if you don't drop this as a debut single and watch the entire world lose their minds."

 

"Definitely," Carrie agreed. "This is probably the best moment of my life right now." 

 

"And with this track down, that means we just finished recording your album," Beca said. "We still have some decisions to make, but it's done. Somewhere in the couple of weeks worth of work we've just laid down is your album, Carrie."

 

"Wow," she said. "This is a big deal, isn't it?"

 

"Yeah, for both of us," Beca said. "I'll let you call it a day, though. I'll lock up a few things and meet you in my office tomorrow to start finalising things, alright? Go out with your mom. Have a celebration."

 

"Can I bring her in tomorrow to hear that?" Carrie asked. "I think she'd get a kick out of it."

 

"Yeah, tell her to come in just before lunch and I'll take you both out to eat," Beca said. "I mean, the label will foot the bill, but still." Carrie couldn't help but throw her arms around her for another moment. 

 

"Beca... I mean, I never would have done that without your encouragement and your faith in me," she said. "I'm gonna owe you forever."

 

"Just my job dude," she said, blushing just a bit. "I understand singers."

 

"Yeah well I appreciate it," Carrie said. "You've been holding my hand the whole way through this thing."

 

"Well you can just promise me that if you blow up and get like, mega famous, you'll still come back and record with me," Beca said.

 

"Definitely." Carrie got her stuff together and left, Mike entering as she did so.

 

"How'd she go?" Mike asked in his trademark quiet tones.

 

"Dude, she slayed that track," Beca said. "Gave her a pep talk and she just smashed it out of the park. Want to hear?" Mike nodded and Beca replayed it again so he could hear.

 

"That's something else," he said. "She surprised me, honestly. But I think if you'd told me on day one of this record she'd give you a song like that I would have said you were crazy."

 

"I saw her doing this when Ted and I had her in before," she said. "She was young and unsure of herself. But I knew she was capable."

 

"Ted and Annie will lose their minds," he said. "Want me to tidy up while you work on mastering?"

 

"Nah I'll give you a hand and we'll start the mastering fresh tomorrow," Beca said. "Let me just call Annie's office and see if she's got a minute sometime so I can have a word."

 

Annie was doing something so Beca just left a message for Annie to call her cell if she had a free moment. She kind of wanted Annie to hear this track, she was really proud of it. She got up and helped Mike pack up the studio, winding the few cables, matching up hardware to the inventory list with him.

 

"You're ringing," he said softly, pointing to the desk. Beca saw Annie's name on the screen and picked it up. 

 

"Hey," she said. "Just wanted to let you know we finished up with Carrie."

 

"How'd it go?" Annie asked.

 

"Well... that track... she smashed it," Beca said. "Just crazy, Annie. You gotta hear it. I let her take the rest of the day off and we'll do some mastering and we'll cut some tracks tomorrow. And I told her I'll take her out to lunch with her mom."

 

"Oh she's nice," Annie said. "I met her the other day. Bring the receipts back and you'll be reimbursed obviously."

 

"No prob."

 

"I want to hear this track, are you in your office?"

 

"Still in studio six, Mike and I are packing the gear," Beca said. 

 

"I'll be down in a minute," Annie said. Beca finished up with Mike and he loaded everything back up to return it to inventory. Just as he had disappeared, Annie appeared in the doorway.

 

“Okay Mitchell,” she said. “Show me what Carrie delivered on this. I have high hopes on this track.” She dropped into an empty chair and kicked her shoes off.

 

“Do you own any shoes that aren’t Louboutins?” Beca asked as she loaded the track up.

 

“Not many,” Annie said with not a hint of concern. “Couple of pairs of sneakers. But I like them. Some people buy cars or houses or drugs or they travel. I buy beautiful, gorgeous shoes.”

 

Beca just smiled and shook her head, pressing play on the track they’d recorded that afternoon. As it played, Annie looked impressed.

 

“Well then,” Annie said. “That was only incredibly good. I kind of just want to kick the chair over, it was that good. I have to admit it, I didn’t think she’d be able to deliver something like that, but you’ve proved me wrong.”

 

“I don’t think she even thought she was capable of it,” Beca said. “But she gave me more than even I expected. I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I feel like this is going to be a big one.”

 

“We need to get it mastered and out as soon as possible,” Annie said. “That song could potentially be one of those summer breakout hits. It’s all about timing now. How much mastering will you need?”

 

“I’ll be done in a week,” Beca said. “I did most of it on the fly, so it’ll be a tidy up, some fading, and then picking the track lineup. But as long as artwork isn’t a problem, we can have it ready for release in what, two, three weeks?”

 

“Excellent,” Annie said. “Lean on her to get this one as the debut single, though?”

 

“We already discussed that,” Beca said. “She’s completely on board with that.”

 

“How many tracks do you think she’s going to be able to put on the album?” Annie asked. Beca thought back over the material they’d recorded.

 

“Ten,” she said. “Couple weren’t really at the same level, or they don’t really fit the same tone. We’ll start shaving tracks tomorrow.”

 

“Alright,” Annie said. “Keep me in the loop. I gotta run.”

 

“Thanks for stopping by,” Beca said. “Just figured you’d want to hear how that track ended up.” She finished up in the studio and locked everything up, then headed up to her office. She had a couple of messages in her email queue from the reception desk and she responded to a few until she got to one from Sara Bareilles.

 

It was letting her know that she’d have two backstage passes for the opening date of her tour couriered over to the office by the end of the week. It was only two weeks away. It was starting to get really close. She immediately got butterflies in her stomach thinking about it.

 

The last message was a quick email from Natalie confirming her flight details for the following day. She’d be arriving around four in the afternoon and Beca would be cutting out early to meet her at the apartment so she could let her in and avoid any issues with the doorman and building security. Natalie had something like eight interviews set up over the next three days. Beca and Aubrey were more than happy to have her come and stay, the only downside being that due to work Cynthia Rose couldn’t come and join her.

 

Once she cleared out the log of messages waiting for her, it was about twenty minutes past four. She decided to throw it in for the day, pleased with what she’d gotten accomplished on her first solo album. She shot a quick text to Aubrey to tell her she was leaving early and then locked her office up for the night. She stopped around the corner for a cup of coffee before she headed down to the subway platform to await her train home.

 

Jerry, her favorite doorman, was on duty that afternoon. She stopped for a moment and caught up with him, also double checking that everyone had seen their letter informing the building that they’d have a houseguest for the next three days who would have a key and would let herself in and out of the building without a residential escort. The letter was a requirement of the lease, so Aubrey understood. They wanted security and if someone who was unknown to the other residents was just going to be waltzing in and out of the building it could cause issues. It was courtesy to inform the doormen since they were the ones seeing the faces, and Natalie was going to have Beca’s keys so she could come and go to her appointments. Jerry assured her it was all taken care of.

 

She headed upstairs and took a shower, starting to think about dinner. It was starting to be a little warmer now, so she wondered if maybe Aubrey wanted to go out and get something. She heard Aubrey coming in as she was tugging jeans on, the blonde appearing while she had a bra on but was still shirtless.

 

“Now this is what I like to see when I come home,” Aubrey said. She strode across the room and kissed her deeply, hands smoothing over soft skin. “My incredibly sexy girlfriend.” Beca indulged in a few more moments making out.

 

“I was thinking we should go grab something to eat,” Beca said. “Weather’s starting to get nice, we should go eat Spanish or Greek or something.”

 

“Let me quickly change and we can go,” Aubrey said. She began rummaging through the closet.

 

“Oh and Natalie will be here about four tomorrow,” Beca said. “I checked that we were good to go with Jerry, he says everything’s cool.” She sat on the edge of the bed and then lay back. She could hear Aubrey changing clothes, and then startled as she felt Aubrey drop onto the bed, hovering over her.

 

“Ready to go,” Aubrey said. Beca just nodded and pulled her in for another kiss first. She remembered that it would only be two weeks and a couple of days until she could ask this beautiful woman to marry her. They got up and headed out, choosing to walk a couple of blocks and then stop wherever tickled their fancy. They ended up at the Spanish place they both liked, and Beca decided to start laying ground work for the proposal.

 

“So I got an email from Sara today,” she said. “As a thank you for the work I did on the album she’s sending a couple of backstage passes to her opening night.”

 

“Seriously?” Aubrey said. “That’s awesome.”

 

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Let’s make a night of it. Get dressed up, go out to dinner… may as well enjoy it properly.”

 

“Definitely,” Aubrey said. “Sounds like a perfect night out.” Beca’s heart was hammering away inside her chest. If Aubrey only knew what she was planning, she’d see just how perfect the night was going to be.


	27. Chapter 27

Before Beca realised what was happening, it was the weekend that she’d earmarked as the right time to ask Aubrey to marry her. She was on an absolute high in general. Natalie had come to visit and go to a few job interviews, and she’d been offered two different jobs. The one she accepted wanted her starting sooner rather than later so Aubrey offered to help her find a place for her and Cynthia Rose.

 

The album she’d done with Carrie was completed, mastered, ready to drop in two weeks. The lead single was ready to go for the following Friday and everyone at Epic who had heard it so far was saying it was going to be huge. The song of the summer. It was a massive boost to her confidence, having people she’d only seen around the office now going out of their way to tell her how impressed they were. Ted was losing his mind, and never always about the same thing - some days it was about how good the songwriting was, some days it was trying to poach her into performance again. Annie had to jokingly warn him off.

 

And, most importantly, now she was sliding into the back of a cab next to her girlfriend with a ring stuffed inside a tiny pouch inside her bra. She was going to originally put it in her pocket but the box was too obvious and she didn’t want to lose it. The bag was slightly itchy so at least she was aware of where it was. Sara had called the office the previous day to talk about a game plan. She was still keen to have Beca out for the proposal, but she had some very clear warnings for her.

 

“You need to be a hundred percent sure she’s going to say yes,” Sara advised. “Seeing a hugely public proposal like that fall flat when the other person says no is just soul crushing for everyone.”

 

“No, dude, of course,” Beca said. “She’s going to say yes, Sara. Bree and I have known for years that there were rings coming. I knew I wanted to marry her after like, a year. That hasn’t changed. We talk about being married all the time.”

 

“Then I’ll just bring you out onstage and have an interlude in the song,” Sara said. “Probably do a lead in by talking about that video of us I posted, the crowd will be excited to meet you. I’ll talk a bit about the album, give you an opening, then wrap up the song after.”

 

“Sounds perfect,” Beca said.

 

“You nervous?” Sara asked.

 

“Not really,” Beca said. “Ask me tomorrow night, probably a different story.”

 

But so far, so good. Apart from minor worrying that she was somehow going to magically lose the ring, she still felt great. Aubrey looked amazing, as always, and they were off to dinner before the concert. She’d received encouraging but discreet texts from Cynthia Rose and Chloe, and she was so ready to ask Aubrey to marry her. Aubrey slid her hand into Beca’s and smiled softly at her across the backseat. Beca looked gorgeous tonight. Every night, really. But especially tonight.

 

“What?” Beca asked. Aubrey just shook her head.

 

“Nothing,” she replied. “I’m looking forward to tonight.”

 

“Me too,” Beca said. She looked out the window, but Aubrey kept watching her. They were pretty close to a year in New York now. She wondered if it would be the right kind of night to maybe approach a conversation about getting married or at least setting a realistic timetable toward getting married. Aubrey wasn’t an idiot she didn’t expect to be married in the next year, but as long as there was some kind of agreement about a timeframe, she’d be happy. She wanted to marry Beca more than anything.

 

The brunette slid out of the cab first and helped her out, guiding her gently with a hand on the small of her back as they entered the restaurant. It was a fairly nice place, and they’d made sure they’d come early enough so that they’d have time to make it to the concert afterward. They didn’t take long to order, and they ordered some wine as they waited.

 

“Hey Beca?” Aubrey said after the wine had been delivered.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I was hoping we could talk about something,” Aubrey said, deciding to go for it. “Something pretty important.”

 

“Oh?” Beca said. “What’s on your mind?”

 

“Um… we are,” Aubrey said. “We talk a lot about the future and everything and there’s no real hurry involved honestly. But I was hoping sometime relatively soon we could at least discuss what kind of timeframe we’re thinking about in regards to you know, getting married.” Beca just let the smile crawl across her face. This girl was too perfect. She was reading her mind almost.

 

“You know, Bree, I really think that’s something we should definitely talk about,” Beca said. “I mean, we both want it. We both talk about it as if it’s a certainty.”

 

“It is a certainty,” Aubrey said. “Okay. Great. Now… I don’t want to put pressure on you, but ideally I’d like for us to at least be engaged by the time I’m thirty.”

 

“That’s like, three years away,” Beca said. “Hopefully it won’t be that long.”

 

“Seriously?” Aubrey said.

 

“Yeah, seriously,” Beca said. “We both always said once our careers were settled and they’re definitely settling down. I’m sure we can manage faster than three years from now.”

 

“Oh,” Aubrey said. “Awesome. Um, okay then. I’m really glad we’re on the same page for this then. Because I can’t wait until we’re married.”

 

“Neither can I,” Beca said.

 

“But let’s push it til tomorrow now,” Aubrey added. “Let’s just enjoy tonight. It’s going to be great.”

 

“I love you, Bree,” Beca said.

 

“I love you too.”

 

Beca was doing her very best to contain her internal screaming. Aubrey was setting this thing up perfectly. But it just reinforced to her that she was absolutely doing the right thing asking her tonight.

 

As they arrived at the concert venue, they showed their passes to the security guy toward the backstage area and were ushered through with no issues at all. Aubrey clung to Beca’s hand as she navigated them through the adrenalin-charged backstage area until she ran into a familiar face.

 

“Beca,” Jeremy said. “And Aubrey. Good to see you both again.”

 

“You too,” Beca said. “How’s everybody feeling? First show of the tour, bet you’re all crazy amped up.”

 

“Well most of us have been playing with Sara for a while now,” he said. “Hey she said she wanted to try and catch you before the show started.”

 

“Oh?” Beca asked, hoping he wasn’t about to blow things.

 

“Something about maybe pulling you onstage to talk about the album a bit, since that video of you guys turned into a viral thing,” he said casually. “I think she wants to see if that’s okay with you first.”

 

“Right,” Beca said. “Uh… I guess from a professional standpoint it’d be pretty hard to turn it down. Any idea where I can find her?”

 

“She’s end of the hall, turn end of that hall,” Jeremy said. “Gotta run. We’ve got a little time before the support act starts.” They left him in the hall.

 

“Oh gosh,” Aubrey said. “Are you nervous?”

 

“I don’t know,” Beca said. “Sara’s not gonna do anything dumb, and she’s pretty easy to talk to. And like I said, it’s probably only going to be smart from a professional point of view. Epic would love it.” They followed Jeremy’s instructions and ran into Sara who was running quiet vocal drills.

 

“Oh great!” Sara exclaimed. “I was hoping I would run into you guys before this started.” She hugged them both in turn.

 

“Jeremy guided me your way,” Beca said. “Something about pulling me out onstage?”

 

“You don’t have to sing or anything, though let me make it clear, I’d let you sing with me any time,” Sara said. “Just to chat about the album a bit. People are still going nuts over the video I posted.”

 

“I admit I turned notifications off,” Beca said. “But the media team tell me it’s giving me great exposure.”

 

“I just didn’t want to yank you out there without any forewarning,” Sara said. “You don’t need a mic or anything, Reed will lend you his.”

 

“No, that’s cool, I’m up for it,” Beca said. “Anyway, we just wanted to check out the magic of backstage before the show started.”

 

“Let me grab the setlist,” Sara said. She pulled a piece of paper out and scanned it. “Okay, not sure exactly, but if you come out to backstage here… it’s going to be somewhere in these three songs. I’ll feel it out, but that’s probably the best hole.”

 

“No worries,” Beca said.

 

“There are drinks in the room opposite,” Sara said. “And I’ll see you guys later.”

 

“Thanks for the tickets Sara,” Aubrey said. “I’m kind of excited.”

 

“Awesome,” Sara said. “I think the support guys are about to go on.” They headed toward their seats to catch the warm-up act.

 

They were pretty good. But Sara took the stage with her band and instantly commanded the entire auditorium. The room loved her and she knew exactly what they wanted. She was seasoned but not overpolished so it wasn’t robotic. She was chatty and goofy and interacted with the band and audience. When Beca heard the song Sara had mentioned as her queue, she nudged Aubrey.

 

“Wanna come watch the show from backstage while I do my thing?” Beca asked.

 

“Are we allowed to do that?” Aubrey asked.

 

“Of course,” Beca said. “There’s a wing set up either side.” Aubrey nodded and Beca took her by the hand and led her backstage again, into the wing. She saw Sara register that they were there and a slight nod. Aubrey was taking the show in completely, so Beca quietly took a couple steps back and fished the ring out of her bra so she wouldn’t have to go digging around in her boobs on stage, stashing it in her pocket for now. Then she crept back up behind Aubrey and slung an arm around her waist as they watched.

 

Beca only began to feel her heart race a little when I Choose You came on. Still manageable. But this was happening. It was about to happen. She tried her best to even her breathing, and she heard Sara stop singing and begin talking.

 

“So how many of you guys follow me on Twitter right now?” she asked. There was a roar from the audience. “Awesome. I feel very loved. Anyway, so right before New Years I posted a little video that a lot of you liked and retweeted. And the number one thing you guys wanted to know was, who exactly was the other tiny brunette singing at the piano with me.” There was another roar.

 

“So, the tiny brunette’s name is Beca,” Sara said. “And she’s here tonight so I asked her if she wanted to come out and say hi to you all since you were so insistent on finding out who she was.” She nodded at Beca, who walked out onto the stage, trying desperately to stay cool as the crowd applauded and cheered. She was handed a microphone.

 

“Hello everyone,” she said a little awkwardly.

 

“So, Beca,” Sara said. “Tell the good people what you do.”

 

“I work for Epic in songwriting, producing and engineering,” she said. “Sara’s record was my very first album.”

 

“And she kicked ass on it,” Sara said. “I don’t know how many of you read the booklets in them old fashioned CDs nowadays but her name’s in it more than once. But Beca and I have a special connection.”

 

“Oh, yeah. You’re probably talking about the acapella thing,” Beca said. There were some cheers and she could see Aubrey beaming from the wings.

 

“Yeah, the acapella thing,” Sara said. “Beca here is quite the acapella ninja wizard. She made this record so easy to get through, though. Saved my ass once or twice. And you guys should remember this face, and remember this name because she’s going to be huge. She hasn’t even been in her job a year. Anything you want to add?” Beca’s heart thudded. This was it.

 

“I guess,” Beca said. “Well, Sara was like a dream first job. I didn’t even need to use words to explain what I meant with her sometimes, it just happened. And of course, she swears like a trucker which put me at ease.” There was some laughter.

 

“I’ve been told I have a potty mouth,” Sara said. “Shocking, I know.”

 

“You and me both,” Beca said. She vaguely heard someone in the crowd scream out ‘MARRY ME!’ quite loudly.

 

“Beca, you just got your first audience marriage proposal,” Sara said. “During I Choose You and everything.”

 

“Well that’s super flattering, thank you,” Beca said in the direction the voice came from. “But I’m going to decline. Because, well, me being out on stage for this specific song was not an accident. It was something Sara and I planned a long time ago, because I’m here tonight with my beautiful girlfriend and I thought it’d be a great opportunity to have her come out onstage…” She turned to Aubrey was slowly realizing what was happening. Jeremy had walked over to lead her out, the crowd beginning to cheer as she became visible. As she approached, Beca got down on one knee - because she figured if you’re going to propose onstage at a concert you better do it one knee - and tugged the ring out of her pocket. Aubrey’s jaw dropped as the crowd roared excitedly.

 

“So, Bree,” she said. “You know I love you more than anything. And we’ve made it through things together I definitely know I wouldn’t have survived on my own. Every day I’m beyond happy to share life with you and I’m so lucky I get to be the idiot who gets to wake up next to you. So I think it’d be really awesome if you like, took this ring, and let me marry you so I can just fall more and more in love with you every single day. Forever, like, for real.” Aubrey nodded before she spoke.

 

“Of course I’ll marry you,” she said, tears in her eyes. “Like that’s even a question.” Beca sprang to her feet and pushed the ring onto her finger, then pulled her in to kiss her deeply. She could hear people screaming and applauding but she was only focused on Aubrey.

 

“I could kill you, you asshole,” Aubrey said into her ear as they separated. “But what’s the point? I love you and you’ve made me the happiest person on earth.” They felt Sara’s arms wrapping around the both of them and Beca laughed. This couldn’t have gone more perfectly if she tried.

 

“Congrats you two,” Sara said, away from the mic. “We’ll toast later, and I think Michelle over there made sure we got it on video.”

 

“Awesome,” Beca said. “Thanks for letting me crash the stage.”

 

“For love, anything,” Sara said. She kissed Beca on the cheek, then Aubrey, and signaled to the band to go back into the chorus.

 

“To Beca and Aubrey, everybody,” she said, causing the audience to erupt in cheers again. Beca led Aubrey offstage by the hand, the blonde still very much in shock at what had just happened.

 

“Wow,” Aubrey said. “Oh my god. Beca… that was… I mean, at dinner. And we… you just… Oh, I’m so glad you asked me to marry you.” She threw herself at Beca again and Beca wrapped her arms around the blonde’s neck.

 

“I’m so glad you said yes,” Beca said. Aubrey kissed her passionately. “And you should know that I did ask your dad. When you were in Geneva.”

 

“I love you… like a ridiculously large amount,” Aubrey said, resting her forehead down on Beca’s.

 

“That’s mutual,” Beca assured her. She ran a hand down the side of her face gently.

 

“Come here,” Aubrey said. She moved them back toward the stage so they could see and wrapped her arms around Beca from behind as they watched the concert continue.

 

“Hey, we should send a selfie to the girls,” Beca said. “They’re gonna flip if they hear about this via YouTube.” Aubrey kept her arms around Beca, making sure the ring was in view and they snapped a quick picture to send to Chloe and Cynthia Rose with a message that they’d call tomorrow so they could enjoy the rest of their night together. Then they also figured probably a good idea to send the same message to their respective fathers, and then added a few more recipients for good measure like the Bellas and Beca’s aunt.

 

Aubrey couldn’t really say if she enjoyed the remaining part of the show a great deal, because she honestly wasn’t paying attention. Because Beca had just proposed to her and they were standing at the side of a stage in New York watching Sara Bareilles and there was a decent sized diamond on her finger. She couldn’t help but look at it, a couple of times. Or more than a couple.

 

“I take it you like the ring?” Beca said with a smirk.

 

“It’s gorgeous,” Aubrey said. “And FYI I’m gonna stare at it all the time. It’s just so pretty.”

 

“I’m glad you like it,” she said.

 

“You could have asked with an onion ring and I would have said yes,” Aubrey said. “Though we do need to talk about whether or not you want a ring too.”

 

“It can wait,” Beca said. She kissed her soundly. A stage assistant asked if they would mind moving out of the way because the show was just about over, so they headed back toward the green room area to make sure they didn’t interfere in whatever was happening. There was a screen set up so they could see the end of the show - a couple of the musicians had ended up there as well, all of them congratulating the couple as they entered. Naturally a lot of the chatter was aimed toward them.

 

“Was it a surprise?” one of the girls asked Aubrey.

 

“That she proposed? No. That she proposed tonight? Yes,” Aubrey said. “We were just talking about it at dinner, getting married and stuff. I was hoping we could at least start talking about a loose timeframe for it, but Beca goes and one ups me with a ring.”

 

“I got lucky,” Beca said. “Bree was out of the country earlier in the year and her dad just happened to be in New York so I decided to ask him for her hand then, and after that the ball was rolling so I rolled with it.” They watched the screen as Sara finished up with the encore and finally began to make her way backstage.

 

They stayed on the fringes while Sara thanked everyone and did what Beca could only assume was a post-show ritual. She gave a little speech thanking the team and hoping that such a smooth opening show would only be a good omen for the rest of the tour.

 

“And where are the girls?” Sara asked, scanning the room. “Ah Beca, Aubrey. I may have pre-emptively bought some champagne for this night, figuring you might want a celebratory drink.” It was rustled up and glasses were poured and handed out.

 

“What if she’d said no?” a guy asked.

 

“That was never an option,” Aubrey assured him. “It was always going to be yes.”

 

“To Beca and Aubrey,” Sara said. “True love and all that. May you only ever be more in love and never less.” Everyone drank and then fell into the rhythm of doing whatever it was they had to do. Beca quickly grabbed Sara so they could thank her again, the singer assuring them it was absolutely no problem. Then she told them to take the stage door and call a cab there because it’d be quieter.

 

They waited outside for the cab, taking a few moments of momentary solitude to kiss a little more, punctuating it with whispers to each other about how happy they were. On the ride back to the apartment they sat quietly next to each other, holding hands and not speaking, but once they were at home, inside, they were all over each other.

 

They made their way down the hall as they hurriedly tugged the clothes from each others bodies, stopping occasionally to press the other up against a wall so they could kiss them until they couldn’t breathe. They fell down onto the bed in a tangle, not bothered about sorting out whose limbs were where, only concerned with making the other gasp and moan.

 

It was late when they were finally too spent to move and Aubrey spooned Beca in their bed. Her arm was wrapped over Beca’s body and Beca’s fingers were gently playing with the ring she’d pushed onto her finger earlier. She could feel Aubrey smiling against the back of her shoulder as she occasionally brushed her lips against the bare skin.

 

“I really love you,” Aubrey whispered. Beca raised Aubrey’s hand to her mouth and kissed it softly.

 

“I really love you, too,” she said. She pulled the blonde tighter into her body and they fell asleep together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested, at the end of the week I'll be making live ThatMitchsenSideblog - a little place where I'll post things like facecasts, tattoos, floorplans, songs, all little bits of what I use to build up the stories I write. 
> 
> It'll literally be a tumblr called ThatMitchsenSideblog, by the way. Password protected at the moment but will be live Saturday. :)


	28. Chapter 28

Beca woke with her arm wrapped around Aubrey tightly. Their bodies were pressed close together and their hands were entwined, Aubrey clutching hers tightly. Beca chose not to move, not to speak, just quietly savor every second of this. Of waking up next to her fiancée for the very first time.It had actually happened. There was a ring on Aubrey’s finger and the blonde had said she’d marry her and she felt like nothing could top this moment, not even close. She figured she might have to reconsider that sentiment on their future wedding day. Then she stopped thinking all together, let her eyes close and just stay there, holding her.

Aubrey moved a while later. A sleepy little stretch and then Beca felt lips on her fingers. She let her own softly brush against Aubrey’s shoulder to signify that she was in fact awake. Aubrey shifted and rolled over, with a broad but not-completely-awake smile. 

“Good morning,” Beca said quietly.

“Morning,” Aubrey mumbled. This was a change. Normally Beca was the mumbly one in the mornings and Aubrey the coherent one. The blonde scooted a little closer and planted a kiss on her. “What time is it?”

“Almost nine,” Beca said. “Which isn’t ridiculously late. But we have a lot of phone calls we have to make today.” They’d checked their respective phones last night before going to bed and saw never ending texts, resolving to turn them off so they could enjoy the moment for themselves and deal with it all later. 

“I still can’t believe you proposed last night,” Aubrey said. She nestled herself into the crook of Beca’s arm and shoulder and held the ring up in front of her face. “I love you, Beca.”

“I love you too,” Beca said.

“I know I briefly mentioned it last night,” Aubrey said, “but I’d like to get you a ring.”

“You don’t have to,” Beca said.

“I know,” Aubrey said. “But we’ve always been partners in this. And we’ve made the same promises to each other about how we want our relationship to be and how we want our future. So I’d like to.”

“Okay then,” Beca said. “For the record it doesn’t need to be remotely as princessy as yours.”

“I wouldn’t buy you something like that,” Aubrey said. “You can trust me on it.”

“I do.”

“Did you pick this ring on your own?” Aubrey asked.

“I did,” Beca said. “I had a short list of three. This was my favourite. Then I asked Chlo for her opinion and she agreed.”

“Chloe knew?”

“She knew and CR knew,” Beca said. “That’s it.”

“And Beca I know it seems very... old fashioned... but it would have meant the world to my dad that you asked him for my hand,” Aubrey said. “He knows times are changing and whatever but still.”

“I got that vibe. He’s old school. Plus, I love your dad, and I respect him. And it wasn’t nearly as terrifying as people might have expected.” Aubrey kissed her again, letting it linger and Beca slid her arm back over her body and pulled her in again. They didn’t get too carried away thanks to the audible rumble of Aubrey’s stomach signifying that food was probably of importance right now. 

“Let’s take a shower and then head out for breakfast,” Aubrey said. “We have heaps of time up our sleeve and no real plans for the day.”

“I did promise Chloe we’d call her first,” Beca said. “You know, since it’s really because of her we ever became friends.”

“And now we’re engaged,” Aubrey said with another soft smile. She couldn’t help it, every time she thought about it she just couldn’t restrain that happiness.

They showered together and threw on some casual clothes. Aubrey commented they should probably drop by the store at some point during the day, but they decided food first and then calling all of their friends and family.

They shared a quiet, intimate brunch, constantly touching each other or holding hands if they were able. Aubrey had her ankle tucked behind Beca’s and they couldn’t possibly be sitting any closer if they tried. Beca paid the bill and they headed home.

They decided to call Chloe straight away. Knowing Chloe, she’d probably been waiting all morning for the call. And true to form, she had been. There was significantly less squealing than Beca had anticipated and she didn’t keep them on the line for too long, understanding that they had to call a whole lot of other people. But she was obviously out of her mind with happiness for the two of them and promised to help with anything they needed for engagement party planning and whatever else. 

They followed it up logically and called Cynthia Rose and Natalie next, who were equally as excited for them. Then they just kept going. Aubrey’s dad. Beca’s dad and Sheila. Aunt Marina. Aubrey’s brothers. They changed tactics and group Skyped as many of the Bellas as they could - met with raucous cheering. It took a solid chunk of time to work their way through the list. It was a lot of fun though, and it made them feel very grateful to have such supportive people around them. 

Once they were done, Beca quickly uploaded the picture she’d taken of them the previous night at Sara’s concert to her Instagram and Twitter. It was a simple caption. “The best night of my life, bar none. Can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.” Then she added a thank you to Sara for helping her out.

“Okay I feel like that might be it,” Beca said. “That was... somewhat exhausting. But still fun.”

“Agreed,” Aubrey said. “Do you want to head out again now or wait til later?”

“No let’s go now,” Beca said. “That way we can just come home and not worry about anything else for the rest of the day.”

“Good point,” Aubrey said. “I’ll make a quick list.” She hurriedly took an inventory of their pantry and refrigerator, and they headed out to the store. Beca pushed the cart while Aubrey added things, Beca pitching in from time to time. 

“Let’s get something ridiculous for dessert,” Beca said. “Let’s order in dinner and then eat, I don’t know, cheesecake or chocolate something.”

“I really like the sound of that,” Aubrey said. “Cheesecake is always a winner.”

They finished up their shopping and headed home. Beca turned some music on as they unpacked them and then made some coffee. They both settled into the couch to relax for a while. Aubrey got up momentarily to fetch her book and glasses, and Beca bluetoothed some music through the stereo softly. 

Beca ended up dozing off on the couch, waking with a throw rug tucked over her that hadn’t been there before. But it was definitely appreciated. She glanced over to Aubrey, who was still reading. She looked good in her glasses. 

“Oh you’re awake,” Aubrey said. 

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Just admiring the hotness of you in your glasses.” She pulled the throw rug back a bit and beckoned to Aubrey, who ditched the book and climbed into the space. Beca tucked the rug back over them and kissed Aubrey gently. Aubrey snuggled into her for a moment.

“They do help with the reading, I can tell already,” Aubrey said.

“You look cute in them,” Beca said. Aubrey kissed her again and they didn’t ease off this time, getting lost in deep, long kisses for a while.

“Almost dinner time,” Aubrey said eventually. “What do you feel like?”

“How cold do you think it is?” Beca asked. “Because I could really go for like, beef or lamb and that carvery place around the corner is feeling pretty good and I don’t mind going to pick it up.”

“You know what, red meat actually sounds great,” Aubrey said. “Only one way to find out how cold it is though.” The two of them got up and headed to the balcony. It was definitely colder than most of their recent days. Not unbearable. It was warming up in general but once the sun went down it was definitely still chilly.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Aubrey said. “Call it in, we can both go pick it up.”

“You sure? I don’t mind sacrificing myself for the greater good,” Beca said. 

“I’ll gladly be anywhere you are,” Aubrey said. “Even if it’s cold.”

“What do you feel like?”

“Rump medium rare,” Aubrey said. “Potatoes, wilted spinach, mushrooms, whatever.”

“Okay I’ll call,” Beca said. She called in the order for the two of them. She was pretty hungry, and she was craving a big, substantial meal. She found Aubrey in the bedroom already pulling on some warmer clothes.

“Won’t be too long,” Beca said. “They said forty minutes but they’ve never taken that long in their lives.”

“I didn’t check if we have any but I think some red wine would go great with our steak and cheesecake,” Aubrey said. They both finished putting extra clothes on, Beca tying a scarf around her neck before they headed out. They didn’t have any wine but it wasn’t out of the way to grab a bottle while they were out.

They stopped on the way to the carvery to pick up their meals, which were waiting and ready by the time they arrived. It didn’t take long at all for them to get back home. Aubrey went to grab some wine glasses and Beca unpacked their dinner at the table, turning their takeout into a nice little romantic dinner by lighting a couple of candles.

“Look at us all fancy with the candles,” Aubrey said, bringing the wine over.

“Hey just because I put a ring on it, doesn’t mean the romance is over,” Beca said jokingly.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Aubrey said. They sat down to eat together, chairs pulled close together. Beca couldn’t explain it but she just wanted to be close to Aubrey. More than ever before. The blonde didn’t mind at all, she wanted it too.

After they made their way through the dinner, and the cheesecake, and around half the bottle of wine, they switched to coffee while they tidied the kitchen and readied themselves for work the next day. 

After that they just curled up on the couch. Beca was working on a few things for the studio, nothing super pressing. Aubrey was doing ring research for Beca. She already claimed she had an idea in mind she just needed to find someone who sold something like what she wanted. But after a couple of hours they shut everything off and returned to their bedroom, taking full advantage of the last remaining hours of the weekend together.

The next day Beca couldn’t get the smile off of her face. Her cheeks almost hurt from the smiling. On her way in she stopped for coffee and ran into the girls from the grad program.

“You look cheery,” Nina said. Delilah smiled.

“I follow a certain celebrity on twitter,” she said. “Congratulations Beca.”

“Wait, what?” Nina asked.

“Beca asked Aubrey to marry her at a Sara Bareilles concert over the weekend,” she explained. “Obviously she said yes, I mean look at her face.”

“Oh wow,” Nina said. “Congrats.”

“Thanks,” Beca said. “Yeah, I’m like, cloud nine over here. It was so cool of Sara to let me do that, and of course, Bree saying yes is everything. But what about you guys? Anything going on?”

“Luis finally got booted,” Nina offered. “He was harassing this intern and she put in a complaint. Gone in a day.”

“Wow,” Beca said.

“Marcus went off on him,” Delilah said. “There was this huge lecture about power and influence and the way we represent the label and how Luis was basically a prime example of how to kill your career before it even started.”

“But how’s the rest of it all going?”

“Really good,” Nina said. “I mean, none of us were expecting to have the same sort of thing happen as you did, but it’s been great.”

“That’s awesome,” Beca said. “I’ve got a friend starting next academic year from back home.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, she was working for a radio station back home but it wasn’t really doing it for her,” Beca said. “Aubrey mentioned she should try the grad program. And she was the one who handled all my PR and stuff for me and for the Bellas, the acapella group I was in. She’s good.”

“We’ve spent a little time with the second year grads,” Delilah said. “Not heaps. But we’ll keep an eye out for her. What’s her name?”

“Cynthia Rose Peters,” Beca said. “She’s good people.” They headed inside and Beca went over toward the elevator so she could ride up to her office. She swiped her card over the reader on her door and opened it, only to be surprised by a bunch of flowers on her desk.

She was a little confused because they were clearly fresh, and the only people who could unlock her door were security, janitorial and… Annie.

She saw a card in Annie’s naturally flawless penmanship and opened it up.

_Congrats on the engagement, Mitchell._

Simple and to the point, much like everything else with Annie, which was something she appreciated. She turned her desk computer on and made a note to call and thank Annie for the flowers. She didn’t need to, because she had an email in her queue from the woman herself asking her to drop by when she got in. She only had flex time for some songwriting that particular morning, so she quickly scanned the rest of her emails and then headed upstairs to Annie’s office. She was waved through with a smile.

“Good morning,” Annie said.

“Good morning to you, too,” Beca said. “Thanks for the flowers. Didn’t realise word travelled quite so fast.”

“Beca you proposed onstage at the opening night of one of the worlds’ premier female vocalists, who happens to be one of our best clients,” Annie said. “As if I wasn’t going to find out about that.”

“True,” Beca relented.

“But congratulations again,” Annie said. “I know I haven’t spent a lot of time with Aubrey, but she seems like a hell of a girl.”

“She’s the best.”

“Have you had coffee?” Annie asked.

“Yeah, but I can always punch another,” Beca said. “Out or in?”

“Out,” Annie said. She slipped her shoes back on - Beca was always slightly amused that someone so completely polished as professional as Annie had the weird habit of kicking her heels off all the time - and they headed downstairs.

“Now, I know it just happened over the weekend,” Annie said, “But whatever you need for planning engagements, the wedding itself, whatever, we’re flexible, so you don’t have to worry about that. We just need you to do us a little favor.”

“What’s that?” Beca asked. She immediately worried that it was going to be some crazy thing that Aubrey wouldn’t go for in a million years.

“Make sure Aubrey’s got her social media locked down as tight as you have,” Annie said. “It isn’t unheard of for people to use any means necessary to get to someone.” Beca was relieved.

“That won’t be a problem,” Beca said. “She has a Twitter she hasn’t used in about four years, so she’d probably just delete it. Her Facebook is probably more heavily redacted than mine since she started working for the UN and her Instagram is strictly friends and family.”

“Excellent,” Annie said. “That’s comforting.” They were at Annie’s preferred coffee shop and she bought them both coffees.

“Yeah, she’s good with that stuff,” Beca said. “She’s private. I mean, she knows that what I do is probably going to open the both of us up to a certain level of exposure, but she’s okay with that. She’s just not about to become Ms Social Media.”

“Good,” Annie said. “So the single for Carrie is locked for Friday. No further work required on your part at the moment. You’ve got a few mastering and tech sessions of the afternoon most of the week and what, working on your own stuff during the morning?”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “I can probably give you another five or six tracks by the end of the month.”

“Wow, Mitchell, you can slow down,” Annie said. “You’re going to find it really hard to keep up that kind of pace.”

“It’s hard to explain,” Beca said. “It’s best to get it out while it’s there. Sometimes I hit a dead spot for a while, sometimes I don’t have enough hours in the day for what I want to do. It’s best to roll with it while it’s there.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Annie said. “Don’t burn out, though, okay? Even if you wanna break up the days by swinging down to see Ted and lend him your ears. They’re a bit short staffed at the moment for the amount of submissions we’re seeing.”

“Oh, I can make some time for him,” Beca said.

“What’s the wager he tries to poach you again?”

“I would never take that bet,” Beca said with a laugh. “Every time I talk to the guy he lays it on. I know it’s his way of showing that he likes me and he knows I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yeah, Ted’s a good man,” Annie said. “It’s weird, our submissions have spiked a bit. If it trends up over the next quarter I’m going to have to put more bodies down there.”

“The girls from the grad program told me Luis got the can,” Beca said.

“Ugh. He said something so filthy and inappropriate to that intern I can’t even repeat it,” Annie said. “Thank the lord she took it straight to her supervisor. If he’s pulling that kind of shit as a graduate employee, I don’t want to know what even a little industry power would do to that ego.”

“He’s a charming character,” Beca said. “I didn’t have much to do with him. Highlights include him calling it hot when he found out I was gay, him ogling Aubrey and referring to her as a ‘dress’, and him alleging that the only way I got out of the grad program was sleeping with you.”

“He what!?”

“Literally everyone in the room jumped on him for that,” Beca said. “He was just bitter.”

“Yeah, well you’re cute and all, but I am the straightest of straight women and also your boss,” Annie said. “And I should really try and stay professional but he just seemed like such a sleazeball.”

“Preach,” Beca said. They were back at Epic now so they headed back to Beca’s office. “I’ll give Ted a call a bit later and offer him my services to get the monkey off his back.”

“He’ll appreciate it,” Annie said. “Thanks for the chat.”

“Thanks for the coffee,” Beca replied. “And the flowers. Again.” Annie left her alone and she snapped a picture of the flowers and sent it to Aubrey. Aubrey called her a while later.

“Nice flowers,” she said. “Annie?”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “She likes you. And before I forget, she wants me to sit down with you and make sure your social media is nice and secure so people don’t use you to glean stuff about me that we might not want public. Not that we have anything to hide, but-“

“No, that’s fair,” Aubrey said. “I don’t use it much anyway.”

“How’s your day going?”

“Well most of the morning was me relaying the events of the weekend in great detail,” Aubrey said. “Though Lauren that I work with, her sister was literally at that concert. She told her the story and said it was cute, but she didn’t remember the names of the girls and then she found out it was us.”

“That’s kinda weird,” Beca said. “I love you. A lot.”

“Me too,” Aubrey said. “I kind of didn’t want to come back to work today, just stay in that happy little bubble.”

“For sure,” Beca said. “I should probably do some work now, though. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up and even for just a second, she opened Instagram just to stare at the photo of her and Aubrey just after she’d proposed. She couldn’t help it, she was way too deep in love.


	29. Chapter 29

It didn’t take long for Aubrey to track down the ring she’d had in mind for Beca, it only took her two days to go to the jeweler she’d picked out. She didn’t do as nearly a dramatic a proposal as Beca had done. She’d simply waited until they were finished with dinner that Thursday night and presented her with the box. They were just sitting on the couch together, Beca was playing her some of the music she’d been working on, and Aubrey had held it out to her. 

“I know you said you didn’t need one,” Aubrey said. “But I needed to give you one. Because we’ve made promises to each other about how our life is going to be, so we both should wear rings as a symbol of our commitment to each other. I love you Beca. And who knows, our futures and our plans might change, but me loving you never will.”

It was simple and not ostentatious in the slightest. A brushed platinum band and a single diamond. Beca loved it immediately. Aubrey always did have flawless taste. She allowed the blonde to slide the ring onto her finger and then kissed her deeply, body pressing against her fiancées hard.

“I love you, too,” she said. Beca fell against her taller frame and they lay there in each other’s arms for a few minutes. 

“It’s still kind of surreal,” Aubrey said quietly. “I mean, we both knew it was coming, but it’s the most amazing feeling, Beca.”

“We’re gonna be together forever, Bree,” Beca said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty happy with that arrangement. But we do have to plan an engagement party and everything now.”

“Yeah,” Aubrey said. “I know we’re not in a hurry but I want to make sure that we pick a slot where Chloe’s available, since it’s most likely her schedule that is going to be the most nuts thanks to med school and stuff.”

“Definitely,” Beca agreed. “We’ll call her and ask when would be best for her, I know she said something about summer break so it might actually be sooner rather than later.”

“That’s true,” Aubrey said. “I’ll call her tomorrow.”

“I’m sure you can help us make whatever lists we need to get the ball rolling,” Beca said in a teasing tone. It was entirely true, though, so Aubrey only pouted for half a second before she was kissing Beca again. They were distracted a little by Aubrey’s phone dinging with a message.

“Natalie’s texting you?” Beca asked.

“Yeah, I emailed her a bunch of places that my dad’s friend said were pretty good in their price range,” Aubrey said. “She might be moving up here as soon as three weeks from now.”

“Wow, that’s soon,” Beca said. “I’ll call CR later and see what’s going on, see if they need a hand with anything.” She leaned back into her and began kissing her again. Aubrey’s hands pushed up her ribs a little, gripping slightly and pulling her in. She shifted a little, looking to maybe move them off the couch and give herself the upper hand in this entanglement, but Aubrey was having none of it.

Beca was always a fan of sex with Aubrey. Always. But her favorite thing was when Aubrey got a little dominant like this. They tended to be pretty even in the giving and taking when it came to the bedroom, but every now and then, Aubrey got her bossy streak going and Beca was more than happy to submit to it. Which she did in this instance, more than once. 

The next morning, however, Beca was the one spooning Aubrey from behind. She pressed a delicate kiss to the back of her neck and smiled a little as the tiny hairs stood up. Aubrey began to shift in the bed, wrapped in her arms. She pulled Beca’s arm tighter around her and Beca curled into her body as tightly as she could. Aubrey let out a deep sigh and then rolled over.

“I love you Beca Mitchell,” she said quietly. Beca gently tucked some hair behind her ear. 

“I love you,” she replied. “It’s a bit early, though. So maybe we could get up and get dressed, then go out for breakfast together before work?”

“Sounds perfect to me,” Aubrey said. She kissed the end of Beca’s nose and decided to get out of bed. Beca followed her though, the two of them having a fairly restrained shower for a change, before getting dressed for their respective work days.

It was actually starting to get warm for a change, so Beca settled for a plaid shirt over her tee rather than the hoodie and jacket she’d been favoring through the colder months. Aubrey tugged on it affectionately as she shrugged it on.

“I love that you still stick to your plaid,” Aubrey said. 

“It works,” Beca said. “Don’t mess with it if it works.” Aubrey left a deep, hot kiss on her lips.

“It definitely works,” she said. “It always has.” Beca swatted her ass as they headed out of the door for breakfast. 

They stopped at a café that Beca thought was secretly just a bit too hipster but their coffee was strong and dark so they ended up there a lot. Beca was a bit quiet, and Aubrey knew exactly what it was about.

“You nervous about Carrie’s single coming out today?”

“Yeah, a little,” Beca said. “It’s going to be the first time I’m hearing one of my songs on the radio. That one Major Lazer bought isn’t the lead single, so that’s not due out for a while yet.”

“So what’s the procedure for something like this?” Aubrey asked.

“Annie says it plays at 10:06am here,” Beca said. “The digital marketing team have a huge thing scheduled as soon as it airs, Carrie’s single will be available at the same time on every digital platform. Annie and I will be in her office waiting to hear it with Carrie. Jason is hoping he can stop by, and Mike will be there.”

“What station?” Aubrey asked. Beca named it.

“I’ll tune in while I’m at work,” Aubrey promised. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She made a mental note to text Cynthia Rose and Chloe, maybe even Beca’s dad and Aunt Marina so they could listen in, too. Beca would be too modest to ask people to listen in, but they’d want to hear it. 

“Can I call you straight after?” Beca asked.

“Of course you can,” Aubrey said. “I’m really proud of you.” She kissed her fiancée quickly so they could finish up breakfast before separating to go to work. Aubrey waited until she got onto her train before she sent out the texts, apologizing for the early morning text to Aunt Marina as she did so. Everyone promised to tune in and listen via the internet so they wouldn’t miss the debut of Beca’s song. When she got to work, Aubrey immediately checked that the station’s streaming site wasn’t blocked, and set an alarm to remind her to tune in.

As it approached ten am, Beca sat in Annie’s office with Mike. Jason would be along any minute, and Carrie was sitting on a chair, more nervous than anyone else in the room. Annie had put on breakfast for them, barring all calls and interruptions unless it was a dire emergency. She didn’t always do this for a song release, she explained, but this song, this artist, this songwriter, it was going to be different in a lot of ways. 

They half-heartedly listened in to the news, Jason interrupting as he entered. He hugged Annie quickly, then Beca, and settled into his own chair. The voice on the radio began introducing the song, and Annie hit the volume up a couple of notches before sitting at her desk. She was watching the digital availability go live.

Beca listened intently. It was surreal. It was a song she wrote. Carrie had absolutely nailed that vocal. She looked up and saw that the girl was in tears listening to her own voice, but smiling broadly. As the song faded out, Carrie came over and hugged her. 

“Thank you, Beca,” she said. “Oh my god, that was insane.”

“It was a bit, wasn’t it?” Beca said. Annie kissed them both on the cheek and congratulated them, before sitting back down at her desk. Mike offered his congratulations as well, and Jason just shook his head.

“You’re telling me you wrote and produced that one, Becky?” he said. “All of it?”

“Everything but the vocal,” Beca confirmed. “That was all Carrie.”

“Well, bugger me,” he said. “That was an impressive piece of music. Kinda mad I didn’t get my hands on that one myself. You did good, firecracker.”

“Thanks Jason,” Beca said. He wasn’t one for poised and eloquent words. Annie’s eyes were still scanning the screens on her desk. 

“How’s it looking?” Mike asked.

“It’s looking very, very good,” Annie replied. “Download rates are increasing rapidly, pre-orders of the album coming through nicely… I think our projections for this one might be pretty accurate. We’re not even live on the West Coast yet.”

“Excellent,” Mike said. 

“Carrie, you’ve got press in an hour,” Annie said. “Ted’s coming for you any minute. You ready?”

“Yeah, I spent all week going over what I should mention, what I should not mention,” she said. “I’m ready.”

“Good,” Annie said. “Well done, by the way. The vocal on this is… significant.” It was an interesting choice of word, but Beca appreciated it. Carrie left soon after, and Beca excused herself for a moment to call Aubrey.

“Hey,” she said.

“Holy crap, Beca,” Aubrey said. “Is that really something you wrote?”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “It was weird listening to it like that.”

“It was amazing,” Aubrey said. “Everyone here is so impressed.”

“You all listened in?” Beca asked.

“Yeah, of course,” she replied. “And so did Chloe and CR, and I texted your dad and Aunt Marina as well.”

“Bree.” She couldn’t find the words to tell her how much that simple gesture meant.

“I know, babe,” she said. “I am so, so proud of you. I’m sure you’ve got things to do, but call me later. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

As she hung up the phone she saw texts coming through. It looked like Chloe had activated the Bellas Facebook chain to tell everyone about her radio debut, because she now had a steady stream of notifications. As she scrolled through the screen she saw a simple text from Cynthia Rose.

That was killer B. Call me when you have time, no hurry.

She did hang around in Annie’s office for a bit longer, watching as the downloads and streams kept ticking over. Fifteen minutes in, someone sent a quick analysis of Google searches to do with the song to Annie’s email. It was generating a lot of buzz, that was for sure. 

“Hang on,” Beca said. She pointed to the screen. “Seriously?” It was showing massive spike firstly for Carrie Burns, then for the song lyrics, and thirdly was showing her own name.

“Of course,” Annie said. “You’ll find that when a new huge song hits, people want to know three things. One, who sang it. Two, what the words are. And three, who wrote it. So you’re going to see an increase in activity on your social media too.”

“I know I keep saying this all the time, but this entire thing is both amazing and surreal,” Beca said. Annie laughed at her.

“By the end of the day, Beca, I’m expecting at least five emails from people who now want to work with you purely after hearing that song.”

“You’re joking,” Beca said, stunned.

“No,” Annie said. “Not in the slightest.” Annie had some work to start taking care of so Beca headed back down to her office. Tugging out her phone, she uploaded a pic of herself and Carrie to Instagram - seeing that she was already getting more traffic. She added a generically nice caption about being proud of Carrie for her hard work, dropping the name and date of the upcoming album, figuring it was time to start using the social media stuff to her advantage.

Then she decided she needed something calming and grounding, so she dialed her best friend’s phone number, hoping she was free to talk.

“Hey Beca,” the voice came.

“Hey CR,” Beca said. “How’s everything going down there?”

“Good,” Cynthia Rose said. “Natalie said Aubrey’s dad has hooked up a bunch of places to come and see.”

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Whenever you guys need to, come stay with us.”

“Oh, we will. But hang on, why are we talking about this when I just heard a killer track on the radio that I know you wrote?” CR asked. “Damn, B. That was… wow. And who’s Carrie? That’s a name I’m gonna remember.”

“She’s a good kid,” Beca said. “She’s still young, too. A bit unsure about whether she could get that track down but I coached it out of her again.”

“I’ll say,” CR agreed. “She can belt. Does it feel weird?”

“So weird,” Beca said. “It’s still crazy to me, CR. Like, this entire thing. I mean, I love every single insane second of it, but man, it’s like this never ending roller coaster.”

“You deserve the success, B,” she said. 

“Thanks,” Beca said. “Oh, and I forgot, Bree also bought me a ring.”

“She did?”

“I told her she didn’t have to,” Beca said, “But she said she was making the exact same promises to me as I was to her so she wanted to. I’ll send you a pic later, she picked the perfect kind of ring for me.”

“I’m pretty excited about coming to New York,” Cynthia Rose said. “As soon as we get a place, I’m ready to move. I know Nat’s taking a whole lot of holiday days to do a lot of the planning, but I don’t have leave like that sitting around. I’m just going to have to trust her and give my official notice as soon as we have a plan.”

“She and Aubrey will get you guys sorted in no time,” Beca said. “I’m glad you’re coming up too.” They chatted for a few moments longer before Beca realised she would probably have to put in some work. She couldn’t really concentrate on writing at the moment, though, she was still a little preoccupied by the events of that morning. So she turned her attention to one of the boxes containing submissions that Ted had delivered to her.

When she’d offered to give Ted a hand sorting through submissions, he’d almost hugged her. He said it didn’t even need to be days and days, just a few hours here and there to stop the backlog becoming a mountain. She pulled out her headphones so she had better clarity and spent the rest of the morning listening to new artist submissions.

It was obviously productive, but the results were lackluster at best. She got through one and a half boxes of submissions, and she only flagged two as worth following up as artists, and one songwriter. She labeled the rejected submission boxes and arranged for someone from administration to take care of them for her. Seeing she still had a bit of time before lunch, she grabbed the three to follow up on and headed down to Ted’s office. He waved her in and spotted the three envelopes in her hand.

“How many?” he asked.

“I got through half of what I had up there,” she said. “Two are worth calling in, one has songwriting potential. Nothing else.”

“Okay,” he said. “Thank you. We’re still spiking, though. I’m going to have to get at least two more full time bodies in here, but they take time to come across. Not everyone knows what we’re looking for. How long can I count on you pitching in for?”

“Til Annie needs me for something else,” Beca promised. “I don’t mind Ted, honestly. Coz chances are I’m going to end up working with some of these people so it’s not ridiculous that I should hear them.”

“You’re a life saver,” he said. “Let me know when you need more.”

“I’ll probably be done with the rest Monday or Tuesday,” she said. He thanked her again and she headed out to get some lunch.

Annie was waiting in her office when she got back. It wasn’t unusual. The older woman had once said she could hide in there and nobody would come looking for her. Plus it wasn’t like she was rifling through Beca’s stuff, she pretty much just sat on one of the comfortable chairs with her shoes off and had a cup of coffee while she waited.

“Hey,” Beca said. “How long have you been here?” She set her noodles down on the table.

“Bout ten minutes,” Annie said. “I came to talk to you about this morning.”

“Oh?” Beca asked. “Mind if I eat?”

“No, go for it,” Annie said. “So remember when I said I’d start to get emails asking about you?”

“Yeah,” Beca said.

“They’ve started,” Annie said. “This is where your career gets tricky though. Because part of you is going to want to work with all of these people, just because you can. But that isn’t a good idea. You need to be selective.”

“Okay,” Beca said. “As in… like I should have meetings with these people?”

“Definitely,” Annie said. “I’ll run through the list with you, we can set up meetings. They should be able to come to you with an idea of what they want to work on, Beca. If they show up saying they don’t know what they want from you, then they’re only trying to jump on you early.”

“Right,” Beca said. 

“And if it isn’t something that floats your boat, don’t say yes,” Annie said. “Actually, unless something magical happens, don’t say yes at all in these meetings. Because I said five, but the list is longer than that, and we’ve only been active on this song for almost four hours.”

Beca didn’t really know what to say. This was new.

“You’ve got that look,” Annie said. “Like you have no idea what’s going on.”

“Accurate,” Beca replied.

“See if you can grab Jason before you take any meetings,” Annie said. “He’ll be a better guide to this process than me.”

“Okay, I will,” Beca replied. “Is this like an urgent timeframe?”

“No, Beca, you get to set the timeframe,” Annie said. “You’re the one in demand right now. You get to make the rules. And try not to meet people in your office. We have meeting rooms for this shit. If they want to woo you over lunch or something, by all means, go ahead.”

“Oh,” Beca said. “Okay. But for the record, if that happens I don’t feel comfortable drinking on the job. I don’t drink a great deal anyway.”

“That’s completely up to you,” Annie said. “A glass of wine wouldn’t be considered crazy, but if you’re more comfortable abstaining, that’s obviously okay.”

“How many names are on this list?” Beca asked nervously.

“Right now? Eight,” Annie said. “But this can wait til Tuesday. Sit down with Jason before then, if you can.”

“I will,” Beca promised. “I’ll track him down today.” Annie hung around for a bit longer, talking a little more shop, but left not long after. Beca decided to try and track down Jason, who said he’d stop by after he finished up with something. While she waited, she worked on a few songs. 

He ended up dropping into her office at about four o’clock and they spent an hour talking about the next part of the process. Because Beca had taken jobs that Annie had set up for her, but she’d never been in a position to negotiate her own. It was valuable information to Beca, she even went so far as to take notes to keep track of what Jason was saying.

She called Aubrey on the ride home, the blonde mentioning she’d managed to get a hold of Chloe earlier that day, and there were a couple of weekends in July and August that she’d be free, but obviously not to worry about her when it came to booking dates. 

“You did tell her that she’s ridiculous, because of course she needs to be here?” Beca said.

“Yep,” Aubrey said. “So we should try and make plans so we can pick a date because we don’t really have a great deal of time, and with both of our work being kind of hectic…”

“Gotcha,” Beca said. “I’ll be home soon.”

“I can’t wait to hear all about your day,” Aubrey said. “Huge day for you.”

“It was,” Beca said. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” She rode the rest of the way with a smile on her face.


	30. Chapter 30

Beca was glad to get home that night and unwind after a pretty hectic day. She and Aubrey had a quiet dinner together, and she filled her in about her day and what the success of the song meant for her career.

“So now I’m going to have to sift through these proposals and set up meetings to see what kind of work I want to take on,” Beca said. “It’s a little bit daunting.”

“I can see why it would be,” Aubrey said. “You still haven’t worked there a year and all of a sudden you’re like… in demand.”

“So I’ve roped Jason in for a bit of advice,” Beca said. “Annie was saying that I shouldn’t just work with people because they’re there, I should really consider what they offer. If they come in saying they don’t know or can’t tell me what they want me for, they might just be trying to cash in early.”

“Jason would be good for that,” Aubrey said. “Firstly, he’s done this for years. Secondly, he knows everyone under the sun.”

“Right?” Beca said. “But over this weekend I’m not going to be thinking about work at all. I figure we should get a jump on planning this party. Because I know you and you’ve probably already got ideas.”

“Ideas, yes,” Aubrey said. “There might be a notepad I started writing on.” Beca rolled her eyes but leaned in and kissed her.

“You know, I would make fun of you, but you’re just so pretty,” she said.

“Lucky me,” Aubrey said. “I haven’t gone crazy, just people I wanted to make sure we invited. And dad called.”

“What did your dad have to say?” Beca asked.

“Reminding me that in no way are we to even think about footing the bill for this engagement party, or the wedding, because he did the same for my brothers,” she said.

“That’s really not necessary,” Beca said.

“I know and I told him that,” Aubrey said. “But you know what he’s like. He isn’t a man easily swayed. And I pointed out that we were more than capable of footing the bill, plus the added factor of the possibility of your dad wanting to help out-”

“Which he will,” Beca said. “Only kid and all.”

“But he said he’d call your dad, and no we are not spending our money on this thing, please, he’s an old man and this is something he can do,” Aubrey sighed.

“Yeah, your dad isn’t going to be talked out of that,” Beca said. “It’s very generous of him.”

“I told him we’d talk about it,” Aubrey said. 

“Well, as much as I hate to take money from people,” Beca said, “I know it would actually mean a lot to him. He’s an old fashioned dude, I get it. Make sure he calls my dad and they can talk about things. Because old fashioned probably doesn’t have an addendum as to the proper protocol for your daughter marrying another girl.”

“Good point,” Aubrey said. “And you’re right, we’re going to have to plan it relatively fast since Chloe has limited dates. And hey, you probably need to call Marina, same reason.”

“Uh, she said she’ll fly out here if she has to physically kill everyone in her hospital to get out on time,” Beca said. “It’s a bit different for Chlo, I guess. Residency and all.”

“Have you started thinking about anything?” Aubrey asked.

“Just a couple of people from work I want to invite,” Beca said. “And I want to have brunch or lunch with the girls on the Sunday after. It’d be nice to catch up with them all.”

“Definitely,” Aubrey agreed. “Oh and Chloe did ask if she could bring a plus one.”

“Noah’s still in the picture?” Beca asked.

“He is,” Aubrey said. “She’s gonna call you over the weekend because she - quote - hasn’t heard from that butthead in a while.”

“Awesome,” Beca said. “I miss her too.” They didn’t get into any planning that night, choosing just to relax on the couch together, watching a movie and then very much not watching the ending of said movie. 

They went out for breakfast the next morning - not before Beca fielded a message from Annie saying she’d done great work with Carrie and the song was looking to be very successful - and started talking about the party they had to plan.

Aubrey had much clearer ideas about what she wanted than Beca, and Beca trusted her tastes implicitly. Aubrey liked things looking simple and elegant, not obnoxious or tacky. So there wouldn’t be a gaudy ice sculpture or anything, and Beca was happy to let her take care of those sorts of specifics as much as she wanted to. She had more opinions on the guest list, the music, the food, that sort of thing. But they weren’t making lists yet, just talking while they ate.

“I think the smartest thing to do would be lock down the venue first,” Aubrey said. “Since we’ve got dates we want, we should call around and see who’s free when we need them to be, and go from there.”

“I’m assuming you know the sorts of places we should call,” Beca said.

“Judging the size of our potential guest list, yeah,” Aubrey said. They finished up breakfast and headed home, tugging out laptops and notebooks ready to put some work into it. 

By the time they made it to lunch they had two venues to go and see the next day, a pretty complete guest list, a shortlist of musicians and a plan of what they wanted their invitations to look like. The two venues both had event planners that could help them coordinate décor, which Aubrey liked since they were both working. She’d picked a few colors that she liked in terms of décor and they’d make a firm decision on them when they saw the venues.

“Are you planning on wearing a dress or pants to this thing?” Aubrey asked. Beca paused for a moment. Good question. 

“No, a dress,” she said. “I know I spend most of my life in jeans or pants but I’m not against the idea of dresses, especially for occasions.”

“Then we’re going to need to talk colors because like hell am I going to clash with you on our engagement,” Aubrey said.

“And I would never have even considered that a potential problem,” Beca said. “Rest assured, I will most likely end up in a black dress but why don’t you pick whatever you want and I’ll match to you.”

“Deal,” Aubrey said. She closed her laptop and spun Beca’s knees toward her. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Beca said.

“I just wanted to make sure we talk about something kind of important,” Aubrey said. 

“What’s that?” Beca asked.

“I know we’re planning this engagement and everything in a real hurry,” she said, “But I want to make sure you know that I’m not expecting for us to plan the wedding and everything at the same pace. We can take that slowly. I just wanted to make sure we had Chloe at the party and if we didn’t do it fast we’d be waiting god knows how long. I’m not trying to run down the aisle or anything.”

“Good to know,” Beca said. “I didn’t think that you were trying to rush it, but I’m glad you feel that way. Because we do have the luxury of time for the wedding, especially if my career starts to go a bit crazy. Which for some reason I really feel like it might.”

“Okay, good,” Aubrey said. She kissed Beca softly. “But I am so, so happy that we’re engaged.”

“Me too,” Beca said, kissing her again. Aubrey made a little murmuring noise and got up off of her stool and stepped into her fiancée. Beca’s hands ran down her sides and settled on her hips as she pulled back.

“For the record,” Beca said, “You’re such a babe.” Aubrey couldn’t help but laugh a little at her dorkiness.

“Wanna go out for dinner later, smooth talker?” she said. 

“Sure,” Beca said. “Wherever you like.” Beca began assembling all their bits and pieces together. Aubrey decided she wanted some coffee so she moved around the counter. Her phone began ringing so Beca slid it over.

“Just Natalie,” Beca said.

“Oh, she might have details for when she’ll be in town to look at those apartments,” Aubrey said. She picked it up and began chatting with her, so Beca took over making the coffee before settling on the couch. 

“Of course, stay with us as long as you need,” Aubrey was saying from the kitchen. “It’s not an imposition at all.” They talked a bit longer and then Aubrey hung up and joined Beca.

“She’ll be here Thursday for a couple days,” she said. “She wants to get it all sorted on the one trip, so CR will be up on Friday night.”

“Awesome. Found some good places?” Beca asked. Aubrey put her coffee down and went to grab her laptop. She opened the email from her dad’s friend so Beca could see.

“There’s six of them,” Aubrey said. “All in their price range, all in decent areas. And an added bonus, none of them are ridiculously far from here.” Beca took some time to scroll through them.

“Yeah, CR’s not really gonna care which of those she lives in,” Beca said. “So as long as Natalie likes one, it’ll be fine.”

“And dad might have talked the guy into skipping all the boring checks and stuff, said they were family friends so he’d vouch for them,” Aubrey said. 

“Seriously?” Beca said. “That’s nice of him. He didn’t have to.”

“No, but he knows how important CR is to you as a friend, and he doesn’t think you’d make the kind of friends who’d be detrimental to his reputation,” Aubrey said.

“I wonder if he’ll feel the same if he meets Jason one day,” Beca joked. She sat back against the couch. “Anything you want to do this afternoon?”

“We need to do laundry and a few groceries wouldn’t hurt,” Aubrey said. “Then I figure we’ll have enough time to come back, have a nap and go out.”

“I love weekend naps,” Beca said. They both sat there for a few more moments before Aubrey got them both moving. 

The rest of the weekend raced past. Sunday they went looking at the venues for the engagement party and picked one, Aubrey calling her father to let him know she had to put a deposit down. But it was nice, and they spent much of Sunday afternoon going through the booklets they’d been provided with to make selections about food, drink and décor. 

Late Sunday night Beca was on her computer checking emails when she saw one from Sara Bareilles. She clicked on it and saw that Sara had heard her song the other day and absolutely fucking loved it, throwing in a whole bunch more congratulations and expletives. 

“What are you smiling about?” Aubrey asked.

“Just that the weirdest part of my job is that Sara Bareilles is emailing me telling me how much she loves me,” Beca said. “She’s pretty cool. She loved Carrie’s song, obviously.”

“That’s because it was crazy good,” Aubrey said. Beca typed out a quick response, but she couldn’t lie, this kind of response from Sara, from Annie and Jason, she felt like she was on cloud nine.

The next morning when she got to work, it was to a message saying Annie would be down to see her at ten regarding her work offers. So she did a little work for an hour, just correspondence and simple stuff, until just before ten. She got up and put the coffee on for when Annie arrived, because that woman had three constants - that she would be wearing Louboutins, that she would kick the Louboutins off once she was sitting down, and that she would want coffee. She’d just poured the cups when Annie let herself in.

“Good morning,” Annie said. “Ah, excellent, I’m dying for coffee. How was your weekend?”

“Busy,” Beca said. “Got a jump start on this engagement party.”

“You’re doing that quick, jeez,” Annie replied, kicking off her shoes and sitting down.

“Well, it’s time sensitive in a way,” Beca said. “Our best friend Chloe - she’s basically the reason we became friends in the first place so she’s like, the most important person in the world to us - she’s in med school and she has limited weekends free because of all the rotations and stuff. She emailed us a bunch of weekends and most of them are over the summer. Because she absolutely has to be there.”

“Fair enough,” Annie said. “Anyway, work. I brought you the list of people who are asking about you.”

“Oh,” Beca said. “Okay.”

“I’ve made it fairly self explanatory,” Annie said, “And then Jason will be along later to add his two cents. But it’ll be your call.”

“Right,” Beca said. 

“I’ve got three folders,” Annie said. “One is for people I think you should probably work with. I know a bit about them, what they want, what they offer, that kind of thing. The next is for people who are maybes we just need more information from them. And the last is people I honestly suspect just want to try and capitalize on your name and say they were in before you became a big thing.”

“I do have a question,” Beca said. “Once I start meeting with people and everything, and they ask about money… I have literally no idea what my time is worth.”

“That is an excellent question,” Annie said. “We use a matrix for that sort of thing, and I can show you how it works. Because a co-write isn’t the same as a full write, a production isn’t the same as an arrangement and there’s the whole concept of in studio hours versus out of studio hours. It’s normally negotiated as a service rendered, with an estimate of billed hours on top, subject to change depending on actual hours.”

“Sweet Jesus,” Beca said. They headed over to Beca’s desk and Annie logged in so she could show Beca how it worked. Despite how complicated it sounded, it was pretty straightforward. Beca ran a couple of hypotheticals and came to some figures, and Annie told her she was dead on.

“But the important part is that you don’t negotiate it down,” Annie said. “Your time really is this valuable to Epic. Sure, someone like Jason can command a lot more-”

“He’s been doing this for decades I don’t even think I’d ever suggest that I should command the same fees as him,” Beca said.

“But for now, this is the matrix you use,” Annie said. “If someone says that your fee is too high or you’re being unreasonable, they’re wrong. So you simply say that you want to think it over and then send them an email saying that due to the amount of interest in your time, you won’t be taking clients that request work charged below industry standard.”

“Sounds a little cold, but I trust you,” Beca said. “It’s about being clear, confident, and not letting myself get pushed around?”

“Exactly,” Annie said. “Now, exceptions to the rule.”

“Exceptions?”

“Very, very, very rare,” Annie said. “If someone calls about a collaboration and that person would bring absolutely no downside, call me. Say you want to check some dates and stuff, we can make it work.”

“If Beyonce calls, call you,” Beca said. Annie laughed.

“Yeah, that’s the kind of person I’m talking about,” she said. “The other is that bizarre gut feeling. You might just have this sense that this person is going to give you something huge and you really want to ride on it. Again, call me. I know this feeling. It’s the way I felt when I was listening to your shit and showing it to Ted. We can make arrangements. But no caving for every sob story under the sun.”

“Gotcha,” Beca said. Annie flipped open the folder of people she thought Beca didn’t need to work with.

“Anyone who talks like this, like they’re doing you a favor by working with you and you’ve never heard of them, hell no,” she said. “It’s not a great opportunity for you, it’s a great opportunity for them. Anyone who approaches it in reverse is insane. You’ve been in this game for five minutes and you’ve got Sara, Sia, Major Lazer and now this Carrie album under your belt. You exploded into the room, Beca, you can afford to be selective.”

“Right.”

“You still have this look half the time like you have no fucking idea what you’re doing here,” Annie said with a smile.

“I mean… this is what I wanted,” Beca said. “Seriously. But I figured it would take a lot longer to get here. I mean, I was set on the grad program for three years, then I was like - maybe I’ll get to be an assistant or something. This is all fucking incredible, don’t get me wrong. But it’s also a little overwhelming, frankly.”

“You know, I’d be more concerned if you didn’t find this overwhelming,” Annie said. “And you’re right, it’s happening really quick. That’s why I’m bugging you, hanging out down here all the time, and why I’ve got Jason on your case. You’ve got all these people who want to work with you, but you don’t have to do it right now. You could space this work out over a year, even, and you’d be fine.”

“Thank god,” Beca said. “Because I love this job, but if it was going to turn into a round the clock deal I don’t think I’d like that. I’d miss Bree too much.” Annie then pulled out the folder of people who might be okay for Beca to work with, once they give a bit more information. Beca jotted notes about the kind of things Annie recommended she find out from them as she spoke. Then it was the last folder.

“I think it’d be more beneficial for Jason to go through this one with you,” Annie said. “He shouldn’t be too long.”

“You said there were eight enquiries,” Beca said. “This is at least twenty.”

“It was eight by the time you left here Friday,” Annie pointed out. “And my partner was out of town all weekend, so I was here. There are twenty seven pages in those folders. After one song. Once the album drops, it’ll only get higher.”

“Right,” Beca said. “I guess I know what I’m doing for the rest of the day.”

“Yeah, and unfortunately it’s less music and more staring at pages,” Annie said. 

“Thanks for walking me through this,” Beca said.

“I’d never just toss someone to the wolves,” Annie said. “It’s bad business all round. Shoot me an email if you need a hand, or ask Jason.”

“Will do,” Beca said. Annie put her shoes back on.

“Before I go,” Annie said. “Carrie has done such a great job press wise. Ted’s babysitting her through it, but she’s doing really well. And she’s also not trying to elbow you out of the way, which is always a concern. Because yeah, she sang her ass off on that track. But you wrote every inch of it. And she’s telling everyone who’ll listen how you coached it out of her.”

“Carrie’s a good kid,” Beca said. “I’d be happy to work with her any time.” Annie left the room and Beca started sifting through the folder of people she was likely not going to be working with, looking for the common things that had tipped Annie off. She recognized the language patterns straight away. Just like Annie had said, the tone was all about what they could do for her career and how much she’d benefit from it. One enquiry was from someone who described their label as a “small, boutique operation” and wanted Beca to come and spend some time “seeing how niche labels give greater satisfaction and prestige than overpolished corporate machines”. Then she saw that they wanted her to come at her own cost, for which they’d promise one percent of the returns and she basically started laughing. Annie had scrawled on the bottom of the page ‘These guys are fucking kidding themselves with this offer Mitchell. 1% of their returns on their last six projects is less than you made last month. Barely running at a profit.’ She buried her head in the paperwork until Jason knocked on the door. 

“Alright, firecracker,” he said. “Grab the top folder, let’s go to lunch.” Beca grabbed the requested folder and a notepad and pencil and followed him out, ready to reap the advantage of his experience for the afternoon.


	31. Chapter 31

Jason was extremely helpful during their lunch. To start with, he recognized every name that was sending requests to Beca, so he was able to discuss in great detail the kind of things they were looking for and what they might be able to collaborate on. Beca had a lot of questions about what she could and couldn’t do within the limits of her contract with Epic. She figured songwriting was one thing, but could she produce a full album for artists signed to another label? At what point did it murky the lines between the labels and potentially create problems? Turns out she wasn’t in a locked-in deal, and would be free to record with people outside of Epic’s brand, but she would have to prioritise Epic artists above the external artists. That seemed more than fair in her opinion. Jason encouraged her to do as much recording as she could in their studios though, to give her a sense of familiarity as she worked.

He also spent a bit of time talking with Beca about how to handle the negotiations. It was very much in the same vein as Annie. Don’t compromise on your worth, yes you definitely are worth that much. Beca listened intently, took plenty of notes.

“I have one more question,” Beca said once their plates had been cleared away. She’d just ordered coffee, tea for Jason. “I have never considered myself to be particularly forceful, or assertive, or even articulate when it comes to this sort of stuff. What are your tips for me not absolutely dying of nerves before every single one of these meetings?”

“On your terms,” he said simply. “If you’re going to be more comfortable in your office with a desk between you, do it there. If it’s going to make you more comfortable to be sitting around a lunch table at that dumpling place down the street, do it. If it’s going to be informal over coffee in a conference room, do it. And you don’t have to give concrete answers right there and then. Take your time. You’re going to be fine. Just remember, you’ve got the backing of me and Annie, and every son of a bitch inside that Epic building.”

“Does everyone know that you’ve got this soft mentoring side?” Beca asked him.

“Do go and fuck yourself,” he said with a laugh. “Not a chance. You might be an exception, let’s just put it that way. I’m a surly old prick and you know it.”

“Must be why I like you so much,” Beca said. “Not exactly a ball of sunshine type myself.” They spent a while drinking their hot drinks, Beca running through some of the things she’d been working on to Jason. He mentioned that he would like to hear some of it, so they headed back to the studio and she showed him her works in progress.

“So this is just going to build the hype,” Jason said. “Are you sure you can sustain this kind of output though?”

“Annie told me to chill too,” Beca said. “But I kind of just have this theory where I roll with it til I hit a dead patch. So while it’s coming, I just keep going. It won’t always be like this. I went for months without working on my own stuff. But there’s enough people in these files to keep me working for a year, if not more.”

“Ted Shepherd heard much of this?” Jason asked.

“Yes and he tries to sway me into recording stuff all the time,” Beca said. “Not what I’m here for.”

“And your friend who’s joining us, what’s her deal? Annie said PR.”

“CR?” Beca said. “She’s the one who got me noticed, man. Did all my PR, did the PR for the Bellas. She’s good. Knows her shit, has the gift of the gab for sure. Don’t get me wrong, she has one of the literal best voices I’ve ever heard as well. But she’ll do good work here in the PR line.”

They’d managed to kill a large part of the afternoon talking and making plans, and Beca felt a sense of ease when Jason finally left. She was no longer as nervous about making the next big moves in her career, all she had to do now was send some emails, make a couple of calls and set up some meetings.

For the last part of her work day, she did the easy part first and sent polite emails to the people she wasn’t going to be working with. It did feel weird to tell people that she wasn’t even considering their offers - she still hadn’t even been at this job for a whole year and could somehow afford to be picky, which was an insane concept.

It was almost five when she was done, so she called it a day and locked up. She called Aubrey on her way home, her fiancée telling her that she’d already ordered Portuguese to pick up on the way. She headed home and dropped her work stuff in what was becoming a familiar home on an armchair. Aubrey had the food left in foil containers and keeping warm in the oven, and Beca could hear the shower running.

Fully intending on taking advantage of the situation, Beca began stripping off as she headed down the hall. As she passed the bathroom she could hear that Aubrey was singing softly and she smiled. She ditched her clothes on the floor of the bedroom, straight on top of the shoes she had kicked off, and made her way into the bathroom. She announced herself by harmonizing with Aubrey mid-song, the blonde willingly making room for her to join her in the stall. They only managed half a verse before Aubrey’s hands curved against Beca’s waist in a manner she couldn’t really ignore and the smaller woman kissed her hard.

They would have gladly wasted the entire night in that stall, but they still had food in the oven. Beca couldn’t help but distract Aubrey, kissing her over and over, as they tugged pajamas on before heading back out to the kitchen.

Aubrey pulled the food out and dished it up, Beca quite glad that they had a couple of beers in the fridge. She had a theory that cold beer worked best with Portuguese food, and Aubrey didn’t argue the point at all. Aubrey had her laptop and work stuff dumped on the coffee table so they ate at the kitchen counter together, Aubrey’s ankle hooked around Beca’s stool so they were turned in toward each other. As they ate Aubrey asked her how her day had gone.

“Yeah, Jason steered me pretty straight on how to move from here,” Beca said. “I was kinda nervous to be honest - it’s so weird to think that people already see me as some kind of expert in this field.” She filled her in on the kinds of things they’d talked about.

“So of all the people that want you to come and work their magic, who are you most excited about?” Aubrey asked.

“Um, probably the Haim girls,” Beca said. “They know their sound really well, polished, multi-skilled, not afraid of a multi-layered vocal which works for me. They’re interested in laying down a single or EP, with a view to turning it into an album if we hit the groove properly.”

“Haim?” Aubrey said. “Wow. Make sure you let Jess and Ashley know if you guys end up working together.” They were both massive Haim fans, and they’d probably lose their minds when they heard that Beca was working with them.

“I’m assuming that since your laptop is here on the coffee table you’ve got work to do?” Beca asked, beginning to clear up.

“Just want to put some work in on a report,” Aubrey said. “Nothing extremely urgent or anything. I was kind of in the zone for this one data subset so I was hoping I could knock it over in an hour or so.” Aubrey brought their empty beer bottles around to put them in the recycling bin. Beca blocked her path back out of the kitchen and kissed her.

“I’m going to put some laundry on,” Beca said. “And make a grocery list. I know we just went shopping but it’d be easier if we don’t have to go out while CR and Natalie are here.”

“Yeah, Natalie is coming in around lunch time on Thursday,” Aubrey said. “One of us needs to meet up with her to give her a key to the apartment.”

“I’ll do it,” Beca said. “It’s going to be way easier for me to leave work than you. I’ll just get her to call me once she lands and I’ll meet her here. Actually, I’ll call CR, it’s been a while since we talked anyway.” Aubrey planted another kiss on her lips and headed over to get herself set up for the work she wanted to finish up and Beca went to find her phone so she could call CR.

She multi-tasked as she talked to her best friend, stuffing clothes in the washer and setting the cycle to run before heading into the kitchen to scan the cupboards for what they needed. CR was excited about coming up on the weekend, saying that it felt more real now that they were looking at places and hopefully signing a lease. She wouldn’t get it until after eight on Friday night, but Beca was still pumped to hang out with her. After they’d hung up she made herself and Aubrey some coffee and settled into the couch next to her.

“Oh, thanks,” Aubrey said. Beca set the mug down and Aubrey pulled her in for a quick kiss.

“Do you mind if I jump on the Bellas group chat and tell everyone to keep the date for the party free?” Beca asked. They’d cleared the date with Chloe first, due to her med school schedule, and their families knew they’d picked a date, but the invitations hadn’t been sent yet.

“Go for it,” Aubrey said. Beca sent the message to the group to keep the engagement party date free and immediately the chat thread came to life. It would be good to all be in the one place, together again. Beca smiled as she read through a stream of messages from their friends saying how excited they were and how happy they were for them. God she loved those girls.

Aubrey snapped her laptop closed not long after that, pretty close to the hour she’d said she was going to spend on it, and sat back to enjoy the rest of her coffee with Beca. Beca was fiddling with the loose ends of Aubrey’s hair, just marveling at how gorgeous she was in pajamas and unstyled hair.

“You’re like, unfairly gorgeous,” she said. Aubrey looked confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“You look so good right now and there’s been absolutely no effort on your part,” Beca said. “Unfair.” Aubrey put her now empty cup down and pulled Beca toward her, spinning her a little so she could wrap her arms around her and interlock their fingers.

“Not like you’re running low in that department yourself,” Aubrey said.

“Oh, you think I’m pretty?” Beca said teasingly.

“Excruciatingly attractive,” Aubrey sighed. “There’s this one moment of a morning where you’ve tugged your jeans on and you’re only wearing a bra, haven’t done your hair so it’s still a little wild… every damn day I just stop and stare and it makes me want to call in sick to work and drag you back to bed.” She left a few soft kisses on the side of Beca’s neck.

“You absolute perve,” Beca said in a leading tone. Aubrey let her teeth catch against Beca’s skin instead of her lips and the hands that were still entwined with Beca’s moved up to grasp at her chest. Beca twisted and kissed her passionately, languidly, enjoying the teasing of their tongues against one another.

“Is it too early to go to bed?” Beca asked. Aubrey shook her head.

“If I have my way we won’t be sleeping for a while yet anyway,” she replied. They disentangled and made their way into the bedroom, Aubrey following close behind Beca so she didn’t have to have her hands off her body.

Beca spent the first hour of her work day the next morning alternating between answering emails, making notes about contacting people and daydreaming about the previous night with Aubrey. She texted her but just before she hit send she changed her mind. She quickly googled a florist nearby to where the UN building was and arranged to have flowers sent to her office instead.

She managed to concentrate a lot better after that, able to set up meetings with a bunch of people over the next couple of weeks. She’d decided that for the jobs she was still undecided about, she’d take the meetings in one of the conference rooms. Annie had told her it was perfectly fine and just to make sure she booked it out with reception so they knew not to let anyone else take the space. For ones where she was pretty sure she was taking the job, she had simply asked both Annie and Jason for tips about a place to either eat or drink coffee and they’d given her a list of places a mile long.

She wanted to make sure she didn’t fuck anything up though, so as she booked meetings she entered them straight into her schedule so that she wouldn’t run the risk of missing anything. She managed to get all her appointments lined up by mid afternoon except one, where she’d left a message and requested they called her when possible. She looked at her next four weeks on the calendar in front of her and felt a sense of pride almost. She snapped a picture of it and sent it to Aubrey with the word “adulting” underneath. She got a reply about ten minutes later. [The flowers are beautiful. I love you. xxx] She smiled and was about to reply when the phone on her desk rang. She saw it was Annie’s extension so she picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, Mitchell, if you’ve got a free couple of minutes we need to have a chat,” Annie said. “Nothing bad. Are you open?”

“Yeah, I’ve just finished lining up a thousand meetings,” Beca said. “Coffee?”

“I’m coming down, let’s go out,” she said. Beca waited for Annie to appear in her doorway and they headed around the corner. Beca filled her in on her productive work day.

“So when you’ve had these meetings, come to me and we’ll get a legal body in to look at contracts with you,” Annie said. “Keep them simple, that’s my motto.”

“Preach,” Beca said. “So what’s on your mind?”

“Press,” Annie said. “Billboard want to do a small article on you.”

“Excuse me, what the fuck?” Beca said in pure disbelief.

“Billboard want to do an article,” Annie said with a ghost of a smile. She was always tickled by how genuinely surprised Beca was. “On you. Not like a fucking feature spread, but you’ve caught their attention.”

“What do they want with me?” Beca asked.

“I imagine just a bit of a ‘where did you come from all of a sudden’ kind of thing,” Annie said. “How’s your schedule for next week?”

“Next week is okay, it’s the week after that I turn mental,” Beca said. She pulled out her phone and emailed her calendar to Annie. “But yeah, I mean, it’s probably not a trap or anything.”

“They want Wednesday if possible so lock it in,” Annie said. “Uh… this is where I have to awkwardly talk to you about press photography.”

“You want me not to look like a massive fuckwit,” Beca said. “I’ll be smart about it dude, don’t worry.”

“My only tip is wear a little bit more makeup than normal, but not overkill,” Annie said. “Your vibe is pretty stripped and casual so you don’t want to run around looking ridiculous. It’s not going to be a full on shoot, it’ll likely be one photo to accompany the article.”

“No fucking photoshop,” Beca said. “Ever.”

“As if you need it,” Annie said.

“Fine, Wednesday it is,” Beca said. “Morning?” Annie nodded and Beca blocked out another chunk of her calendar.

“Done,” Beca said. They took their coffee back, Annie remarking that she had a few things to take care of so Beca headed back to her office. She knew it was premature, but she had ideas she wanted to start getting down for some of the artists she might be working with. 

She pretty much worked on them for the rest of the week until Thursday lunch, when she left the studio to meet Natalie and let her in. Annie had told her to take the rest of the day since she didn’t actually have any pending work on, so Beca had arranged to see proofs of their engagement party invitations so they could get them mailed out. Aubrey had done the phoning around and Beca had agreed with her decisions on how it should look (she wasn’t particularly fussed).

Natalie texted her when she was about two blocks away and said she’d just pulled up so it wasn’t too much longer before she was letting them both into the building. Natalie had an afternoon appointment to see an apartment and asked Beca if she wanted to come. They had time for lunch first so they grabbed some quick noodles on the way. 

The apartment was nice and Beca knew CR wouldn’t have a problem with it. The only minor drawback that was the bathroom seemed to have been skipped during the advertised “recent renovation”. It wasn’t disgusting by any means, but it definitely was missing the same fresh feeling.

“It’s a maybe,” Natalie said as they hit the street. “Bathrooms are my deal breaker. If I find one with a better bathroom, this one’s out.”

They headed to the print shop and Beca picked up the proof. She thought they were gorgeous, and Natalie agreed. They’d decided on navy, gold and white and Beca was pretty happy with the way the invite looked. She double checked the spelling of everything on the invitation, triple checked the date and time and then signed off on printing the lot.

“So it’s all like getting real now,” Natalie said to her.

“Yep,” Beca replied. “I’m not worried though. This is what we talked about in the first year we even got together. But you and CR that’s serious too, she’s told me.”

“Well, she wanted to sit down and really talk about it all when the grad program thing became a possibility,” she said. “Which I appreciated. Because I’m really done with the runaround of dating. CR is it for me. It’s weird but it all just... feels good. And she’s not about to propose this very second and neither am I, but we have time for that.”

“All I know is that’s she’s happy,” Beca said. “I mean, she’s my best friend I want her to have everything she wants out of life. And I’m also really glad you guys are moving here.”

“Me too,” Natalie said. “She’s really excited about the grad program.”

“I should connect her with some of the girls I started with,” Beca said. “They’re cool. And Sharelle is into the PR thing. I’ll hook it up.” They made their way home to organise dinner and Natalie’s apartment viewings for the next day.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's what was meant to be posted yesterday - turns out Microsoft Word is a massive dick. But let's not get carried away.

By the time Beca got home Friday, Aubrey and Natalie already had dinner on the way. They were due to go and pick up Cynthia Rose just before eight thirty, so they had a little time to eat and then Beca was going with Natalie to pick her up while Aubrey stayed at the apartment.

“So how’d the apartment hunt go?” Beca asked.

“Found the perfect one,” Natalie grinned. “Soon as CR signs the lease it’s ours. I can start moving next weekend provided there are no issues.”

“Where is it?” Beca asked.

“Five blocks west of here,” Natalie replied. “CR sounded super jazzed about being so close.”

“Hell yeah,” Beca said. “You can be in this city and still be forever away.”

Cynthia Rose’s flight was delayed by ten minutes but it wasn’t a drama, it didn’t take long for them to be headed back to the apartment. Natalie and CR were in the backseat of the cab, Natalie showing her pictures of the place she picked.

“Looks fine to me,” she said. “I’ll sign, I trust you. But that means we can start moving up here almost straight away, yeah?”

“It’s time to give your two weeks notice,” Beca said from the front seat. “Get your ass up here already.”

Aubrey had coffee ready by the time they got back and they shared a cup on the tiny balcony together. They made plans to go back to CR and Natalie’s apartment the next day - to return the paperwork and so Aubrey and Beca could have a look. 

They weren’t up for much longer, just chatting on the balcony about work and other things Natalie and CR needed to do before they got to New York. Beca and Aubrey were of course happy to help them out in whatever they needed to do. 

The next morning they went out for breakfast before meeting the landlord back at the new apartment for Cynthia Rose and Natalie. It was nice, Beca agreed. She and Aubrey poked around a little while the other two filled in the lease paperwork. The landlord was a loose business connection of Aubrey’s father, so there was nothing to worry about in terms of contract. It didn’t take too long, so they headed out to do a little shopping as well. Mainly window shopping, though Beca was running low on pens for work.

“They don’t supply you with pens?” Aubrey asked, confused.

“They do,” Beca said. “I just prefer a different kind, that’s all. You know what I’m like, I can accidentally draw on my jeans while I’m tapping out rhythms. I like a clicky bottom pen.” The two couples strolled on, hand in hand. It was a nice taste of what it could be like on free weekends for them. It neared lunch time, so they decided they may as well eat out. As they walked toward a place Aubrey and Beca were familiar with, Natalie and Aubrey wanted to stop into a clothing store. Beca and Cynthia Rose waited outside, enjoying the warm sun.

“So how much big stuff do you have to buy to move up here?” Beca asked.

“Well, we want to be smart about it,” Cynthia Rose said. “We both have furniture and Natalie’s is in pretty great condition, though the dining suite at mine will fit that apartment better. I think the plan is to ship what we need, sell what we don’t. Eventually once we settle in and figure out how finances are going to work, we’ll start replacing things. It’ll have to wait, I mean, I’m not even going to start getting paid til the grad program kicks off. But we are treating ourselves to a new bed.”

“Well if you guys want some help with that, I mean, I don’t know what Nat’s like with utilities and stuff-”

“She deals with them because she has to, but she isn’t like, a negotiator or anything,” Cynthia Rose supplied.

“Get Bree to help,” Beca suggested. “She sat down with our budget and had it nailed into place quickly.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Cynthia Rose said. “You know, I’m really excited to be moving up here, B. This job’s gonna be great, I can feel it, but I also really missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Beca said. “And Epic will be good to you. Oh, shit, I completely forgot to tell you something - Billboard want to do like a small article on me I guess?”

“Whoa,” she said. “Dude, that means like… you’re getting your name up there. Which I knew because of the whole thing with Sara. But this feels like… I don’t know how this works, but Billboard? That’s some legit exposure there.”

“I know,” Beca said. “Sometimes I still really struggle to believe that this shit is happening. It’s weird. Annie thinks it’s hilarious, but she’ll say something casual like that Billboard want to do an article and all I can ask is why the fuck do they want to talk to me?” Natalie and Aubrey both came out of the store, toting a bag each.

“I mean, personally I can totally understand why, but I can see your point,” CR said as they fell back in step with their respective partners. “It’s all happened very quickly.”

“Not even a year,” Beca said. “I got so fucking lucky here.”

“No,” Aubrey said. “You’ve been working toward a music career since you were in middle school, Beca. You poured yourself into it. This was always going to happen, it was inevitable.” Beca slid her hand into Aubrey’s and squeezed it.

“Saying shit like that is only going to make me want to marry you,” Beca joked. 

The rest of the weekend was kind of relaxing. Natalie sat down with Aubrey and started looking at logistics for the move, plus an outline of a budget for them. Beca and CR kept themselves occupied goofing around with some music while they did the boring stuff. 

Beca headed to work on Wednesday slightly nervous about her first press interview. She’d sat down with Jason briefly the previous afternoon and talked about what it might be like. He guessed it was probably a simple question and answer kind of interview, because Beca was brand new to the industry and nobody knew who she was or where she’d come from. He said he’d done a million of them over the years so she shouldn’t worry because if he’d managed to never fuck it up, she’d be fine. 

Aubrey had helped her out with picking her outfit and figuring out how much makeup was appropriate for something like this. The blonde could tell that she was nervous so she kissed her and told her she’d be fine before sending her off for the day.

The interviewer was extremely nice to her, which helped. She was probably only a few years older than Beca herself. The photographer was a slightly older man, maybe early thirties, and he simply sat and waited while the woman asked Beca some routine questions. 

“So Beca, first some clarification,” she said. “It is Beca and not Rebecca? Our preliminary research was pretty consistent that you’ve never gone by Rebecca but we wanted to be sure.”

“No, it’s Beca,” she replied. “Has been from birth.”

“And you’re from Portland, Oregon?”

“I was born in Portland, grew up there, moved to Barden, Georgia for college and then here,” Beca said. 

She then asked questions about Beca’s interest in music, where it started and how she developed. They spent a few moments talking about the Bellas and acapella, before they covered her move to New York and what she’d achieved in her short time there. But it wasn’t painful at all, which Beca was grateful for. When she was all done, the man came over and adjusted her hair briefly but said that she was picture ready. He set up just a single light, posed her for a second and then snapped a handful of shots. Then he came around to where Beca was and showed her the shots he’d taken, marking the one he was planning on using. She was incredibly surprised at how painless the entire experience was, and thanked them both for stopping by.

She returned to her office and was greeted with a message from Annie saying that she should keep the afternoon free for some chat. So she pulled out some music she was working on until lunch, breaking to get dumplings down the street. She called Annie’s assistant when she got back, who said that she’d likely be an hour to an hour an a half still. Beca decided to use the time preparing for some of her upcoming meetings. Eventually Annie knocked on her door with a slightly strained expression. It was probably the second time in Beca’s tenure at Epic that the woman didn’t look one hundred percent composed.

“You okay dude?” Beca asked.

“Nothing some caffeine won’t fix,” Annie said. “Let’s go.” Beca got up and followed her.

“It’s nothing,” Annie continued as they made their way to the elevator. “Ted’s on my case about man hours in submissions, but I literally am at the bottom of the barrel here. We have no spare bodies and I can’t keep tossing him producers and engineers. But everyone is breaking for summer pretty soon so the talent pool for what we need is kind of shallow right now.”

“Uh… what are the credentials for this kind of thing?” Beca asked.

“Why, you know someone?”

“Well, Cynthia Rose will be moving up here in a couple of weeks, and she’ll be unpaid til the grad program starts,” Beca said. She hoped her best friend wouldn’t mind her doing this. “She’s got a great ear and if I sat with her for a couple of sessions, she’d pick up the sound we’re after pretty quick. Even if you got her to like, shortlist, and then someone could wade through and narrow it down.”

“Not a bad idea,” Annie said. “I’m putting a lot of stock in your word, Mitchell. She’s good?”

“Never lied to you yet,” Beca pointed out. “I can make the call.”

“There’d be a minor payroll conflict,” Annie said. “I’d have to hire her on basic intern rates because if I hire her on a regular ADM contract she’d be ineligible to enter the grad program. She’d be okay with that? It would be a bit less than the grad program will pay.”

“Anything is better than nothing,” Beca said. Annie tilted her head for a second. 

“Fuck it,” she said. “Make the call, and if she’s interested, I’ll have her start as soon as she gets here. Ted can sort out the fine details.” Beca grinned at her and they ordered their coffee. 

“Okay,” Annie said. “My drama aside, how did it go this morning with Billboard?”

“Fine, I think,” Beca said. “It was like you said, basic background and history. They took a couple pics. Showed me the one they wanted to use.”

“Yeah Billboard aren’t ever going to be dicks,” Annie said. “The mutual relationship is important. It’s a big step, face in print, though. You ready?”

“It’s weird, I know that shit’s just started to get very real but I kinda still feel exactly the same as I did six months ago. I just want to make music, dude.”

“I know,” Annie said. “Works out great though, because that’s what we want too. Who’s your first meeting with next week?”

They headed back to the studio and Beca filled her in on what order she had her meetings set up for. Annie made a few comments here and there, which Beca filed away with her other information. She had to admit she still got a teeny bit nervous thinking about it. 

“Anything specific you’re worried about?” Annie asked as they reached Beca’s office. They settled in her comfortable chairs.

“Maybe that I’m pigeonholing myself pretty quickly,” Beca said. “The work I’ve done is very pop-oriented but I feel like I could be equally useful producing other genres. That’s why I want to do some of these band projects, I think. Not just restrict myself to being a one trick pony, so to speak.”

“You were working with Jason with those cokeheads, weren’t you?” Annie asked.

“Yeah,” Beca said. Annie rolled her eyes.

“Incredibly stupid young men,” she said. “They tried to sue, did he tell you?”

“He said they might.”

“I got a call from legal about a claim saying we unfairly terminated their contract,” Annie said. “I called their lawyer. Told him that we had video footage of them doing cocaine in our studio, violating not only our studio terms, but the law. They sent back an email saying we had to prove it was cocaine. I sent them the exit interview transcript where they openly admitted to snorting coke on more than one occasion. Weirdly, they’ve chosen not to pursue the lawsuit.”

“Funny that.”

“I did get a call from someone looking to sign them, they wanted to know why we dropped them,” Annie said. 

“What’s the rules on that?” Beca asked. “Can you even say that you busted them snorting coke before the morning session?”

“Directly? No,” Annie said. “But I can say that they violated the ethics section of our contract and people generally know there was something drug related involved. There aren’t too many clauses in that section. Drugs, violence, sexual misconduct. All things other studios are going to want to stay away from.”

“So it’s like a professional courtesy thing,” Beca said. “As much as we’re in competition with other labels, we don’t want dickheads like that to succeed.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Beca, we have problematic clientele of our own,” Annie said seriously. “But what they do outside of the studio is much harder to discipline, especially if there are no legal repercussions. We have some absolute assholes on book I would love to dissolve terms with, but professionally speaking I have no grounds to do so.”

“What do you even do with that, though?” Beca said. This was a side of working in the music industry she hadn’t really thought about.

“Make it very clear that even the slightest infraction of the contract means termination,” Annie said. She kicked her heels off. “But as you get involved with artists and do some solo work and stuff, you need to get your head accustomed to the fact that yes, as a woman in this industry, people are going to try and assert power over you.” Beca realised that this was becoming a very serious conversation. 

“I remember reading all that stuff back in the grad program,” Beca said.

“It’s a different beast up here though,” Annie said. “And Marcus is fantastic at his job and he would never treat a woman like garbage, but he has never had to deal with the things I’ve dealt with just to get where I am. I’ve got a reputation as a hard ass ice queen. I like it that way. Because the men I encounter, who are so used to being the alpha in the room, do not challenge me. I’m absolutely not this way outside of work.”

“It’s not going to help that I’ve barely five feet tall and twenty two, is it?” Beca asked. 

“Not really,” Annie said. “But you do give off a bit of a ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibe which counteracts some of that. Seriously though Beca, people are going to try and talk down to you, dismiss you, intimidate you. Sexualise you, demean you. Because you’re a woman, because you’re young and cute and new. Maybe even because you’re gay. Because they want to feel like a big shot. Do not let it happen. I’m not remotely kidding. The second someone attempts to make you feel uncomfortable, make it known, and make your intolerance of it clear.”

“I will, Annie, I swear,” Beca said. 

“If it happens repeatedly or they ignore you, walk,” Annie said. “Then get your ass back to your office and call me, or if I’m somewhere unreachable, call Diana Crowther in HR. She’s the specialist for this stuff.”

“Will do,” Beca said.

“And I’m not saying that all men in this industry are to be feared,” Annie said. “We’ve got lovely men all through this business. But I’ve worked in this area for many years and I’ve seen and experienced things that prove an unfortunate pattern. The harassment stuff does work in different gender combinations, and it even has done here. But more often than not, it’s some testosterone fueled man trying to exert some kind of power over a young woman.”

“I completely understand,” Beca said sincerely. “I can see that this is something extremely important to you, Annie, so I promise I will take everything you said seriously and keep it in mind.”

“Good,” Annie said. “Didn’t scare you off?”

“Not really,” Beca said with a shrug. “I’ve dealt with the intimidation stuff a lot already. Like I said, I’m a tiny little white girl. I knew it would be a factor coming into this industry, I’m not insane. But again, the fact that I’ve taken a fairly big leap in my career very quickly changes things. I was aware that a conversation like this was going to have to happen at some point. I appreciate that Epic takes stuff like this seriously. I mean, especially after everything that happened with Aubrey at work.”

“Okay, scary talks are done now,” Annie said. “And I should go, I’ve eaten up enough of your time. If you’re free later try and see if Jason will let you sit in on a mastering session. He’s doing a band at the moment, so it’ll be useful for you since you were talking about that earlier.” 

Beca smiled at Annie as she left. She was extremely grateful to have someone like Annie looking out for her. As she booted up her computer to get some more work done, she made a mental note to maybe talk about that kind of stuff with Aubrey and probably Cynthia Rose as well. But it was all put on the backburner as she slid her headphones on and began working on the music.


End file.
